Opinion ID: 2112535
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: statutory language in question

Text: The fundamental question is: What is the meaning of total annual parimutuel handle in § 2-1208.03(5)? The Racing Commission urges that total annual parimutuel handle means the total of all wagers actually placed at a licensed racetrack, including any wagers made on races simulcast from another location. Conversely, the Board argues that wagers made on simulcast races are properly assignable to the total annual parimutuel handle of the sending track, viz, the track at which the race is actually run. As mentioned above, the phrase total annual parimutuel handle is undefined in Nebraska statutes. However, total is ordinarily understood to mean the entire amount or aggregate. Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged 2414 (1981). Annual connotes yearly and, as used in § 2-1208.03(5), refers to the racing year or the particular year during which horseraces are run or have been run. Section 2-1208.04(1) indicates that the racing year for the purpose of the Track Distribution Fund begins on January 1; consequently, annual, as used in § 2-1208.03(5) means the calendar year. Parimutuel refers to the wagering system authorized in Neb.Rev.Stat. § 2-1207(1) (Reissue 1987): Under such system the licensee may receive wagers of money from any person present at such race or racetrack receiving the simulcast race on any horse in a race selected by such person to run first in such race, and the person so wagering shall acquire an interest in the total money so wagered on all horses in such race as first winners in proportion to the amount of money wagered by him or her.... The balance remaining on hand [after the required deductions] shall be paid out to the holders of certificates on the winning horse in the proportion that the amount wagered by each certificate holder bears to the total amount wagered on all horses in such race to run first. The licensee may likewise receive such wagers on horses selected to run second, third, or both, or in such combinations as the commission may authorize.... The meaning of handle, used in § 2-1208.03(5), raises a question for which there is a readily available answer. Even to those who are not among the cognoscenti of horseracing, handle has a standard meaning in everyday usage for wagering: the total amount of money bet on a race, game, or event or over a period of time (as a season). Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged 1027 (1981). Based on the foregoing, we conclude that the phrase total annual parimutuel handle, used in § 2-1208.03(5), means the aggregate dollar amount of wagers accepted over the course of a calendar year. Adoption of the preceding definition, however, does not end our analysis, because total annual parimutuel handle is meaningful only when calculated in reference to something else, such as a particular track or tracks, particular types of races, or particular types of wagers. In other words, total annual parimutuel handle could refer to wagers placed at a track or placed on some race which occurs at another site. In the present case, the reference point is supplied by § 2-1208.03(5), which refers specifically to a racetrack. By limiting the focus to a racetrack, instead of types of races run or types of wagers accepted, the Legislature has expressed its intent that the aggregate dollar amount of wagers accepted over the course of a calendar year at a racetrack shall be used in determining whether the racetrack qualifies for money from the Track Distribution Fund. Under § 2-1208.03(5), all wagers placed at the track are aggregately considered for the purpose of the statute, whether such wagers are placed on races occurring at the site where the wagers are placed or are placed on races simulcast to the site where wagers are placed. We are aware that § 2-1227(4) requires the combination of all wagers placed at the receiving track with the wagers placed at the sending track. However, § 2-1227(4) provides that the combination of wagers is for the limited purpose of the calculation of odds and the determination of payouts. Under the general principle of statutory construction that an expressed object of a statute's operation excludes the statute's operation on all other objects unmentioned by the statute, the combination of wagers under § 2-1227(4) is restricted to the purpose or object expressed in the statute, i.e., calculation of odds in a race and determination of payments from pools resulting from parimutuel betting on the race. See, Nebraska City Education Assn. v. School Dist. of Nebraska City, 201 Neb. 303, 267 N.W.2d 530 (1978) (expressio unius est exclusio alterius, the expression of one thing is the exclusion of another; when a statute specifies the object of its operation, the statute excludes its operation on every object not expressly mentioned by the statute); Galstan v. School Dist. of Omaha, 177 Neb. 319, 128 N.W.2d 790 (1964); Starman v. Shirley, 162 Neb. 613, 76 N.W.2d 749 (1956); Harrington v. Grieser, 154 Neb. 685, 48 N.W.2d 753 (1951). Therefore, the Racing Commission must include and use all wagers accepted at the Board's Lincoln track to determine whether the Lincoln track qualifies as a recipient track under § 2-1208.03(5). Because the Board accepted a total of $12,034,795 in wagers during the 1987 racing year, the Board's Lincoln racetrack did not qualify as a recipient track under § 2-1208.03(5) for 1987 and, therefore, is ineligible to receive money from the Track Distribution Fund for 1987. Accordingly, the district court's judgment is reversed, and this cause is remanded for entry of judgment in the district court in accordance with this opinion. REVERSED AND REMANDED WITH DIRECTION.