2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 12 - Taxation › Chapter 22 - Coin-operated Machines And Other Devices › Section 12-22-930. Requirements for machine licensure.

(A) Not later than December 1, 1999:
(1) each machine must meet standards provided in subsection (B) of this section and the machine owner shall certify to the department, under oath and in a form prescribed by the department, that the machines are prepared for connection to the central computer monitoring system; or
(2) each machine owner must certify to the department, under oath and in a form prescribed by the department, that he has ordered all location controllers and associated modems, computer chips, associated equipment, software, hardware, and any other equipment required by this chapter in order for his machines to be connected to the central computer monitoring system.
(B) Not later than December 1, 1999, and subject to the provisions of subsection (A)(2), all machines and equipment must:
(1) have games that are random and have a minimum theoretical payback of between ninety percent and ninety-nine percent, within standard rounding, in which the theoretical payback percentage is determined using standard methods of probability theory at optimal play;
(2) be secure and accountable;
(3) not operate in a misleading or deceptive manner;
(4) not have any means of manipulation that affect the random probabilities of winning a game;
(5) have one or more mechanisms that accept only coins or cash in the form of bills. The mechanisms must be designed to prevent obtaining credits without paying by stringing, slamming, drilling, or other means;
(6) have one or more metering devices that keep a record of (a) all cash inserted or deposited into the machine; (b) credits played, (c) credits won, (d) validated cash ticket amounts, and (e) other information prescribed by the department. Cash records must include total coins and bills accepted and total credit generated by coin and bill acceptors;
(7) be capable of being accessed on demand by telecommunication through a location controller from the central computer monitoring system for purposes of polling or reading device activities and for central computer remote enabling or disabling of machine operations;
(8) be capable of interfacing with a central computer monitoring system through a location controller;
(9) when required by the department after certification, be connected to the central computer monitoring system through a location controller; and
(10) meet the standards set by the department and those set forth in this chapter.
(C)(1) Machines not meeting the standards of this chapter, or the standards of the department, shall not be licensed. The license of any machine which fails to maintain the standards of this chapter shall be revoked.
(2) The department shall connect licensed machines at licensed establishments meeting the requirements of this section to the central computer monitoring system as soon as is practicable after receipt of certification from the machine owner that a machine meets the standards of this section, no later than February 1, 2000. A machine owner who provides the certification provided in subsection(A) may provide payouts as provided in Section 12-22-1020 beginning on December 1, 1999. A machine owner who provides the certification provided in subsection (A)(2) shall provide the certification provided in subsection (A)(1) by February 1, 2000; if the certification is not provided on that date, the machine shall be disabled and the machine owner shall be subject to the penalties provided in this chapter.
(D) When the department approves the software and logic board of a machine, the division must require the use of a prescribed security seal process to guard against any unauthorized tampering or changes to the erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM) chip or chips, or future, similar such technology. Any repair, replacement, or adjustment to the machine's EPROM chips or similar such technology must be done in the presence of an employee of the division.
HISTORY: 1999 Act No. 125, Section 10.
Editor's Note
See Editor's Note at the beginning of this Chapter.