CO Code § 44-30-302 (2021)
2021 Colorado Code|Title 44 - Revenue - Regulation of Activities|Article 30 - Colorado Limited Gaming Act|Part 3 - Colorado Limited Gaming Control Commission|§ 44-30-302. Commission - Powers and Duties - Rules

  In addition to any other powers and duties set forth in this part 3, and notwithstanding the designation of the Colorado limited gaming control commission under section 44-30-201 as a type 2 transfer, the commission shall nonetheless have the following powers and duties:   To promulgate the rules governing the licensing, conducting, and operating of limited gaming and sports betting as it deems necessary to carry out the purposes of this article 30. The director shall prepare and submit to the commission written recommendations concerning proposed rules for this purpose.    To conduct hearings upon complaints charging violations of this article 30 or rules promulgated pursuant to this article 30, and to conduct any other hearings as may be required by rules of the commission;    To enter into agreements with the Colorado bureau of investigation and state and local law enforcement agencies for the conduct of investigation, identification, or registration, or any combination thereof, of licensed operators and employees in licensed premises or in premises containing licensed premises in accordance with the provisions of this article 30, which conduct shall include, but not be limited to, performing background investigations and criminal records checks on an applicant applying for licensure pursuant to the provisions of this article 30 and investigating violations of any provision of this article 30 or of any rule promulgated by the commission pursuant to subsection (1)(a) of this section discovered as a result of the investigatory process or discovered by the department or the commission in the course of conducting its business. Nothing in this section shall prevent or impair the Colorado bureau of investigation or state or local law enforcement agencies from engaging in the activities set forth in this subsection (1)(c) on their own initiative.    To conduct a continuous study and investigation of limited gaming and sports betting throughout the state for the purpose of ascertaining any defects in this article 30 or in the rules promulgated pursuant to this article 30 in order to discover any abuses in the administration and operation of the division or any violation of this article 30 or any rule promulgated pursuant to this article 30;    To formulate and recommend changes to this article 30 or any rule promulgated pursuant to this article 30 for the purpose of preventing abuses and violations of this article 30 or any of the rules promulgated pursuant to this article 30; to guard against the use of this article 30 and the rules as a cloak for the conducting of illegal activities; and to ensure that this article 30 and the rules shall be in such form and be so administered as to serve the true purpose and intent of this article 30;    To report immediately to the governor, the attorney general, the speaker of the house of representatives, the president of the senate, the minority leaders of both houses, and any other state officers as the commission deems appropriate concerning any laws that it determines require immediate amendment to prevent abuses and violations of this article 30 or any rule promulgated pursuant to this article 30 or to remedy undesirable conditions in connection with the administration or the operation of the division, limited gaming, or sports betting;    To require any special reports from the director that it considers necessary;    To issue temporary or permanent licenses to those involved in the ownership, participation, or conduct of limited gaming or sports betting;    Upon complaint, or upon its own motion, to levy fines and to suspend or revoke, licenses that the commission has issued;    To establish and collect fees and taxes upon persons, licenses, and gaming devices used in, or participating in, limited gaming or sports betting;    To obtain all information from licensees and other persons and agencies that the commission deems necessary or desirable in the conduct of its business;    To issue subpoenas for the appearance or production of persons, records, and things in connection with applications before the commission or in connection with disciplinary or contested cases considered by the commission;    To apply for injunctive or declaratory relief to enforce the provisions of this article 30 and any rules promulgated pursuant to this article 30;      Except as otherwise provided in subsection (1)(n)(II) of this section, to inspect and examine without notice all premises in which limited gaming or sports betting is conducted or where devices or equipment used in those activities are located, manufactured, sold, or distributed, and to summarily seize, remove, and impound, without notice or hearing, from the premises any equipment, devices, supplies, books, or records for the purpose of examination or inspection. (n) (I) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (1)(n)(II) of this section, to inspect and examine without notice all premises in which limited gaming or sports betting is conducted or where devices or equipment used in those activities are located, manufactured, sold, or distributed, and to summarily seize, remove, and impound, without notice or hearing, from the premises any equipment, devices, supplies, books, or records for the purpose of examination or inspection.    Subsection (1)(n)(I) of this section does not apply to an owner, operator, employee, or customer of a simulated gambling device, or of a business offering simulated gambling devices, who:   Ceased participating in such activity on or before July 1, 2018; and    Provides clear documentation to the district attorney that a lawful contract has been entered into for the sale or transfer of all simulated gambling devices connected with the activity to a person by whom, or into a jurisdiction where, the activity is lawful; and consummates the contract by actually selling or transferring the simulated gambling devices within one hundred eighty days after the contract was entered into or after any simulated gambling devices that were seized, confiscated, or forfeited by law enforcement authorities have been returned, whichever occurs later.          To enter into contracts with any governmental entity to carry out its duties without compliance with the provisions of the “Procurement Code”, articles 101 to 112 of title 24. The contracts or formal agreements, or both, are to be based on preestablished commission criteria specifying minimum levels of cooperation and conditions for payment.    To exercise any other incidental powers as may be necessary to ensure the safe and orderly regulation of limited gaming and sports betting and the secure collection of all revenues, taxes, and license fees;    To establish internal control procedures for licensees, including accounting procedures, reporting procedures, and personnel policies;    To establish and collect fees for performing background checks on all applicants for licenses and on all persons with whom the commission or division may agree with or contract with for the providing of goods or services, as the commission deems appropriate;    To establish and collect fees for performing, or having performed, tests on equipment and devices to be used in limited gaming or sports betting;    To establish a field office in Black Hawk, Central City, or Cripple Creek, as deemed necessary by the commission;    To demand, at any time when business is being conducted, access to and inspection, examination, photocopying, and auditing of all papers, books, and records of applicants and licensees, on their premises or elsewhere as practicable and in the presence of the licensee or the licensee's agent, pertaining to the gross income produced by any establishment or activity licensed under this article 30; to require verification of income, and all other matters affecting the enforcement of the policies of the commission or any provision of this article 30; and to impound or remove all papers, books, and records of applicants and licensees, without hearing, for inspection or examination; and    To prescribe voluntary alternative methods for the making, filing, signing, subscribing, verifying, transmitting, receiving, or storing of returns or other documents.       Rules promulgated pursuant to subsection (1) of this section must include, at a minimum, the following:   The types of limited gaming and sports betting activities to be conducted and the rules for those activities;    The requirements, qualifications, and grounds for the issuance, revocation, suspension, and summary suspension of all types of permanent and temporary licenses required for the conduct of limited gaming or sports betting;    Qualifications of persons to hold limited gaming or sports betting licenses;    Restrictions upon the times, places, and structures where limited gaming or sports betting are authorized;    The ongoing operation of limited gaming or sports betting activities, including the testing and approval of software or accounting systems used in connection with limited gaming or sports betting;    The scope and conditions for investigations and inspections into the conduct of limited gaming or sports betting, the background of licensees and applicants for licenses, the premises where limited gaming or sports betting are authorized, all premises where gaming devices are located, the books and records of licensees, and the sources and maintenance of limited gaming or sports betting devices and equipment;    Activities that constitute fraud, cheating, or illegal or criminal activities;    The percentage of the adjusted gross proceeds to be paid by each licensee to the commission, in addition to license fees and taxes;    The seizure without notice or hearing of gaming equipment, supplies, or books and records for the purpose of examination and inspection;    The disclosure of the complete financial interests of applicants for licenses or of licensees;    The issuance or denial of support licenses by the director;    The granting of certain licenses with special conditions or for limited periods, or both;    The establishment of procedures for determining suitability or unsuitability of persons, acts, or practices;    The payment of costs incurred in the operation and administration of the division, and the costs resulting from any contract entered into for consulting or operational services;    The payment of costs incurred by the Colorado bureau of investigation and any other agencies for investigations or background checks, which shall be paid by applicants for licenses or by licensees;    The levying of fines for violations of this article 30 or any rule promulgated pursuant to this article 30;    The amount of license fees for all types of licenses issued by the commission and the division;    The conditions and circumstances that constitute suitability of persons, locations, and equipment for gaming or sports betting;    The types and specifications of all equipment and devices used in or with limited gaming or sports betting; and    All other provisions necessary to accomplish the purposes of this article 30.       Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the contrary, sports betting is not authorized unless the voters at the November 2019 statewide election approve the ballot question submitted pursuant to section 44-30-1514, enacted in 2019 in House Bill 19-1327.      History. Source: L. 2018: (1)(n) amended,(HB 18-1234), ch. 381, p. 2297, § 1, effective June 6; entire article added with relocations,(SB 18-034), ch. 14, p. 179, § 2, effective October 1. L. 2019: (1)(a), (1)(d), (1)(f), (1)(h), (1)(j), (1)(n)(I), (1)(p), (1)(s), (1)(u), IP(2), (2)(a) to (2)(f), (2)(r), and (2)(s) amended and (3) added,(HB 19-1327), ch. 347, p. 3212, § 8, effective August 2.    Editor's note:    This section is similar to former § 12-47.1-302 as it existed prior to 2018.    Subsection (1)(n) of this section was numbered as § 12-47.1-302 (1)(n) in HB 18-1234. That provision was harmonized with and relocated to this section as this section appears in SB 18-034.     ANNOTATION   Annotator's note. Since § 44-30-302 is similar to § 12-47.1-302 as it existed prior to its 2018 relocation to this section, relevant cases construing that provision have been included in the annotations to this section.   Section 9 of article XVIII of the Colorado Constitution prohibits the general assembly from enacting limitations on revenues collected by the Colorado limited gaming commission in order to comply with section 20 of article X of the Colorado Constitution, and insofar as revenues generated by limited gaming might tend in a given year to violate the spending limits imposed by that section, the general assembly may comply by decreasing revenues collected elsewhere, or if that is impossible after the fact, by refunding the surplus to taxpayers. Submission of Interrogatories on Senate Bill 93-74, 852 P.2d 1 (Colo. 1993).   Outrageous conduct and contract claims fall within the commission's exclusive regulatory authority pursuant to subsection (1), therefore the plaintiff's claims were dismissed. Barry v. Bally Gaming, Inc., 2013 COA 176 , 320 P.3d 387.