2023 Colorado Revised Statutes › Title 44 - REVENUE - REGULATION OF ACTIVITIES (§§ 44-1-101 — 44-50-1001) › GAMING AND RACING (§§ 44-30-101 — 44-33-108) › Article 32 - RACING (§§ 44-32-101 — 44-32-901) › Part 5 - LICENSING AND REGISTRATION (§§ 44-32-501 — 44-32-514) › Section 44-32-501 - Regulation of race meets and racing-related businesses - additional facilities - rules

(1)
(a)
The commission shall license and regulate all race meets with pari-mutuel wagering held in this state at which horses participate, and shall cause the places where the race meets are held to be visited and inspected at least once a year by its members or employees, and shall require all places to be constructed, maintained, and operated in accordance with the laws of this state and the rules of the commission.
(b)
The commission shall license and regulate all kennels and stables housing racing animals both in connection with a race meet and to protect the general health and welfare of horses. The commission shall cause the stables to be visited and inspected at least once a year by its members or employees and shall require all such places to be constructed, maintained, and operated in accordance with the laws of this state and the rules of the commission.
(2)
(a)
(I)
The commission shall, at its own expense, regulate the operations of pari-mutuel machines and equipment, the operations of all money rooms, accounting rooms, and sellers' and cashiers' windows, and the weighing of jockeys.
(II)
The commission shall at its own expense take or cause to be taken saliva, urine, blood, hair, or other body fluid samples or biopsy or necropsy specimens from horses selected by the commission or its employees at race meets provided for under this article 32 or when concerns are raised as to a particular animal, including the winner of a race, and shall test and determine the samples or specimens or cause the samples or specimens to be tested and determined.
(III)
To protect the health and safety of licensees, racing employees, and the general public, and to ensure the orderly conduct of race meets, the commission may at its own expense take or cause to be taken, for cause or by random selection, saliva, urine, blood, hair, or other body fluid samples from licensees. The commission shall promulgate reasonable rules identifying the license categories subject to testing. The commission shall designate license categories subject to testing based on the nature of the work performed or proximity to dangerous conditions in the sport of horse racing. Samples may be collected by division employees or by certified contractors in connection with race meets. The rules must include a listing of prohibited substances. The commission shall test and determine the samples or specimens, or cause the samples or specimens to be tested, to determine the presence of any prohibited substance that may cause impairment, or mask or dilute the presence of a prohibited substance.
(IV)
The commission, at its own expense and in addition to other employees, shall employ or contract with competent doctors, accountants, chemists, and other persons necessary to supervise the conduct of race meets and to ascertain that this article 32 and the rules of the commission are strictly complied with. The commission shall also seek innovative and efficient methods of testing humans and horses for prohibited substances to ensure the safety of humans and horses and maintain the integrity of racing. Through its bidding process, the commission shall invite laboratories to include proposals for testing procedures and methods that would maintain or improve the effectiveness of test results and minimize testing cost incurred by the state or the racing industry.
(b)
The commission shall establish and require compliance with internal control procedures for licensees, including accounting and reporting procedures.
(c)
The commission shall license and regulate persons who manufacture or operate totalizators and shall require all totalizators to be manufactured, maintained, and operated in accordance with the laws of this state and rules of the commission.
(d)
The commission may license and regulate persons outside of Colorado who conduct pari-mutuel wagering on simulcast races and who accept wagers from Colorado residents at out-of-state simulcast facilities, and shall require out-of-state simulcast facilities to be maintained and operated in accordance with the laws of this state and rules of the commission. Source market fees imposed on persons licensed under this subsection (2)(d) shall not exceed ten percent of the gross receipts of all pari-mutuel wagering by Colorado residents conducted by the persons at out-of-state simulcast facilities.
(3)
The commission shall license and regulate all in-state simulcast facilities conducting pari-mutuel wagering and shall require all such in-state simulcast facilities to be maintained and operated in accordance with the laws of this state and rules of the commission.
(3.5)
An additional facility, as described in section
44-32-102 (11)(a)(II)
, must not be located within fifty miles of any class B horse track operated by another licensee without the written consent of the other licensee. The commission shall establish by rule the means of obtaining the consent.
(4)
The commission shall, at its own expense, specifically regulate the operation by in-state simulcast facilities of pari-mutuel machines and equipment, the operation of all money and accounting facilities, and the operation of sellers' and cashiers' windows and ensure that the in-state simulcast facility is handling wagering as part of the pari-mutuel system of the appropriate track or simulcast facility and as part of the appropriate pari-mutuel pool, as designated in section
44-32-703
. For such purposes, the commission, at its own expense, and in addition to other employees, shall employ the competent personnel necessary to supervise the wagering through in-state simulcast facilities and to ascertain that this article 32 and the rules of the commission are strictly complied with.
(5)
A licensed track or its additional facility may be used for nonracing events upon advance notice to the commission, subject to the authority of the commission and the division to take all measures reasonably necessary to ensure that the nonracing events do not interfere with the safe and proper conduct of racing or the suitability of the track for racing.
Amended by 2023 Ch. 329,§ 4, eff. 8/7/2023.
Amended by 2018 Ch. 129, § 2, eff. 4/12/2018.
Renumbered from C.R.S. § 12-60-501 and amended by 2018 Ch. 26, § 2, eff. 10/1/2018.
Amended by 2014 Ch. 25, § 3, eff. 3/10/2014.
L. 2018: (1)(b) and (2)(a) amended, (SB 18-172), ch. 129, p. 851, § 2, effective April 12; entire article added with relocations, (HB 18-1024), ch. 26, p. 295, § 2, effective October 1.
(1) This section is similar to former § 12-60-501 as it existed prior to 2018.
(2) Subsections (1)(b) and (2)(a) of this section were numbered as § 12-60-501(1)(b) and (2)(a), respectively, in SB 18-172. Those provisions were harmonized with and relocated to this section as this section appears in HB 18-1024.
2023 Ch. 329, was passed without a safety clause. See Colo. Const. art. V, § 1(3).