2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 19. Agriculture › Article 23. Horse and Dog Racing › §19-23-13. Disposition of Funds for Payment of Outstanding and Unredeemed Pari-Mutuel Tickets; Publication of Notice; Irredeemable Tickets; Payment of Past Obligations

(a) All moneys held by any licensee for the payment of outstanding and unredeemed pari-mutuel tickets, if not claimed within ninety days after the close of a horse or dog race meeting or the televised racing day, as the case may be, in connection with which the tickets were issued, shall be turned over by the licensee to the racing commission within fifteen days after the expiration of the ninety-day period, and the licensee shall give any information required by the racing commission concerning the outstanding and unredeemed tickets. The moneys shall be deposited by the racing commission in a banking institution of its choice in a special account to be known as "West Virginia Racing Commission Special Account - Unredeemed Pari-Mutuel Tickets." Notice of the amount, date and place of each deposit shall be given by the racing commission, in writing, to the state treasurer. The racing commission shall then cause to be published a notice to the holders of the outstanding and unredeemed pari-mutuel tickets, notifying them to present their unredeemed tickets for payment at the principal office of the racing commission within ninety days from the date of the publication of the notice. The notice shall be published within fifteen days following the receipt of the outstanding and unredeemed pari-mutuel ticket moneys by the commission from the licensee as a Class I legal advertisement in compliance with the provisions of article three, chapter fifty-nine of this code, and the publication area for the publication shall be the county in which the horse or dog race meeting was held and the county in which the televised racing day wagering was conducted in this state.
(b) Any outstanding and unredeemed pari-mutuel tickets that are not presented for payment within ninety days from the date of the publication of the notice are thereafter irredeemable, and the moneys theretofore held for the redemption of the pari-mutuel tickets shall become the property of the racing commission and shall be expended as provided in subsections (c) and (d) of this section. The racing commission shall maintain separate accounts for each licensee and shall record in each separate account the moneys turned over by the licensee and the amount expended at the licensee's track for the purposes set forth in this subsection.
(c) In the fiscal year beginning on July 1, 2010, the racing commission shall keep separate the unredeemed pari-mutuel tickets received from each of the two licensee horse racetracks.
(1) The unredeemed pari-mutuel tickets attributable to each licensee horse racetrack together with funds distributed pursuant to section eighteen-a, article twenty-two, chapter twenty-nine of this code shall be used for claims received pursuant to this subsection by the Racing Commission each calendar quarter: Provided, That the first distribution after the effective date of amendments to this section made during the 2010 regular legislative session shall not occur until February 2011 and then each calendar quarter thereafter. Any claims made pursuant to this subsection must be submitted to the racing commission no later than fifteen days after the race where the funds are awarded. The funds in the two special accounts - unredeemed pari-mutuel tickets shall be distributed based on claims received from each horse racetrack as follows:
(A) To the owner of the winning horse in any horse race at a horse race meeting held or conducted by any licensee: Provided, That the owner of the horse is at the time of the horse race a bona fide resident of this state, a sum equal to ten percent of the purse won by the horse at that race: Provided, however, That in the event there are more than ten races in any performance, the award to the resident owner of the winning horse will be that fractional share of the purse with a numerator of one and a denominator representing the number of races on the day of the performance. The commission may require proof that the owner was, at the time of the race, a bona fide resident of this state. Upon proof by the owner that he or she filed a personal income tax return in this state for the previous two years and that he or she owned real or personal property in this state and paid taxes in this state on real or personal property for the previous two years, he or she shall be presumed to be a bona fide resident of this state; and
(B) To the breeder (that is, the owner of the mare) of the winning horse in any horse race at a horse race meeting held or conducted by any licensee: Provided, That the mare foaled in this state, a sum equal to ten percent of the purse won by the horse: Provided, however, That in the event there are more than ten races in any performance, the award to the breeder will be that fractional share of the purse with a numerator of one and a denominator representing the number of races on the day of the performance; and
(C) To the owner of the stallion which sired the winning horse in any horse race at a horse race meeting held or conducted by any licensee: Provided, That the mare which foaled the winning horse was served by a stallion standing and registered in this state, a sum equal to ten percent of the purse won by the horse: Provided, however, That in the event there are more than ten races in any performance, the award to the owner of the stallion will be percentage of the purse based upon the fractional share represented by the number of races on the day of the performance.
(2) If in any calendar quarter insufficient funds are available in each licensee horse racetrack’s special account - unredeemed pari-mutuel tickets administered by the Racing Commission for payments pursuant to subdivision (1), payments shall be made on a pro rata basis pursuant to paragraphs (A), (B) and (C) of subdivision (1) of this subsection of the claims submitted from races won at each horse racetrack. Once payments on each claim are made, whether in full or on a pro rata basis, no further obligation for payment is created by this subdivision. Claims received after the deadline are not valid.
(3) If after paying any claims pursuant to this subsection and funds remain in the accounts, those funds shall carry over to the next calendar quarter. If in any quarter the surplus in either account reaches a balance of $1 million, then that surplus balance shall be placed in to the regular purse fund of that licensee horse racetrack whose unredeemed pari-mutuel account achieves the surplus.
(d) Any unredeemed pari-mutuel tickets received from licensee dog racetracks shall be combined into a single balance and distributed quarterly to the West Virginia racing commission special account - West Virginia greyhound breeding development fund. The deposit made pursuant to this subsection does not create a continuing obligation of payment except to the extent that there are unredeemed pari-mutuel tickets from the licensee dog racetracks.
(e) The amendments to this section made during the 2010 regular legislative session shall become effective July 1, 2010.
(f) The Racing Commission shall satisfy obligations of the prior enactment of this section for all claims received on purses won on or before June 30, 2010. Claimants must submit all claims on or before July 15, 2010 for verification by the Racing Commission. Claims received after July 15, 2010 are not valid.
(1) A transfer of $2.5 million from the State Excess Lottery Revenue Fund available on the last day of the fiscal year which began July 1, 2009 shall be made to the nonappropriated fund with the State Treasurer known as the Unredeemed Pari-Mutuel Tickets Fund. The Racing Commission shall also transfer to the account with the State Treasurer monies from the racing commission special accounts - unredeemed pari-mutuel tickets for deposits received in each of those accounts that have been credited with unredeemed pari-mutuel tickets for races completed at any licensee racetrack as of June 30, 2010, and any other monies appropriated by the legislature. Unredeemed pari-mutuel tickets for races completed after June 30, 2010 must remain in the special accounts - unredeemed pari-mutuel tickets to satisfy future payments pursuant to this section.
(2) The Racing Commission is authorized to pay claims received for races completed on or before June 30, 2010 without regard to date of deposit or date of claim. Claims shall be paid in date order, with the oldest claims being paid first, until all claims have been satisfied. All payments made pursuant to this subsection for claims received on purses won on or before June 30, 2010 shall extinguish any further obligation by the state with respect to those claims.
(g) The commission shall submit to the legislative auditor a quarterly report and accounting of the income and expenditures in the special account created by this section known as the West Virginia racing commission special account - unredeemed pari-mutuel tickets.
(h) Nothing contained in this article shall prohibit one person from qualifying for all or more than one of the aforesaid awards or for awards under section thirteen-b of this article.
(i) The cost of publication of the notice provided for in this section shall be paid from the funds in the hands of the state treasurer collected from the pari-mutuel pools' tax provided for in section ten of this article, when not otherwise provided in the budget; but no such costs shall be paid unless an itemized account thereof, under oath, be first filed with the state auditor.
(j) The racing commission is authorized to promulgate emergency rules, prior to September 1, 2010, to incorporate the revisions to this article enacted during the 2010 regular legislative session.