Opinion ID: 1270103
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Did the legislature intend to protect mere storage of the machines?

Text: Appellant next argues the legislature has indicated its intent that owners of illegal machines may legally store them. Appellant bases its argument on the proceedings surrounding the 1993 county-by-county referendum on video poker, later invalidated by this Court. See Martin v. Condon, 324 S.C. 183, 478 S.E.2d 272 (1996). A second round of referenda was authorized to comport with our Martin decision. In the context of these referenda, the General Assembly enacted § 12-21-2809, which provided: In a county in which a majority of the qualified electors vote or have voted to terminate cash payoffs for credits earned on coin-operated devices in a referendum authorized by Section 12-21-2808, the department shall not issue any license for coin-operated devices as defined in Section 12-21-2720(A)(3) and a person may not own or possess these machines in the county other than for purposes of storage, maintenance, or transportation. S.C.Code Ann. § 12-21-2809 (Supp.1998). Appellant argues this statute demonstrates the legislature's intent to provide a safe harbor for storage of gambling machines declared unlawful. We disagree. The class protected by the statute consists of owners of machines which become illegal as a result of a particular referendum. The machines at issue in this case did not become illegal as a result of that referendum, therefore possession of these illegal machines is not protected. Furthermore, as discussed above, § 12-21-2710 clearly makes mere possession of described machines unlawful. If the statute is clear on its face, we will not look beyond it for the legislature's intent. See Abell v. Bell, 229 S.C. 1, 91 S.E.2d 548 (1956) (if legislative intent is clearly apparent on the face of a statute, the court may not embark upon a search for it).