Bingo! Rules mean game soon in play
Posted on Friday, June 8, 2007
Rules regulating bingo games in Arkansas are now in place, giving nonprofit and taxexempt organizations the legal green light to start calling out I 23 and B 6 by the end of next month.
Organizations that receive licenses by the state Department of Finance and Administration may begin play July 31.
Roughly 100 organizations were mailed copies of the rules and an application Wednesday, said Tom Atchley, excise tax administrator for the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration. Deputy Director Tim Leathers signed the rules Monday, Atchley said.
The rules implement the provisions of Act 388 of 2007, which provides for the licensing and registration of nonprofit and charitable organizations to conduct games of bingo and raffles in the state. Eligible organizations include religious, educational and medical groups that have been in continuous existence in Arkansas for at least five years.
Licensing fees range from $ 10 to $ 100, depending on the type of license granted. Bingoequipment manufacturers and dealers must also register to sell equipment in Arkansas, Atchley said.
Under the rules, money raised from the games must benefit a charitable cause, and no one may be paid to run the game, Atchley said. Bingo sessions must end within five hours, and organizations may not hold more than two sessions a week.
The maximum prize per bingo game is $ 1, 000, and the total prizes per session may not exceed $ 7, 500. The law places a $ 50, 000 annual limit on the value of the prizes if they’re purchased and a $ 100, 000 annual limit on the value of the prizes if they’re donated.
Some organizations look forward to hearing “Bingo !” shouted in their halls again because they say the money the games generate will help people. Other groups are still considering their options.
Vic Kerr, quartermaster for the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2256 in Benton, said the post is ready to start playing as soon as it gets the necessary permits. The post has equipment it used before officials began cracking down on bingo games in 2004.
Kerr said the money raised from bingo at his VFW post will fund two programs that help deployed soldiers and their families. Operation Uplink gives telephone cards to soldiers to call home, and the Needs program provides other assistance to a deployed soldier’s family, he said.
Mark Knoles, president of the Little Rock Fraternal Order of Police, said his group continues to discuss whether it will hold bingo games.
“Certainly as the largest FOP in the state, we’re going to look to guidance with our state sister agency and see what they’re going to sponsor, recommend,” Knoles said.
The group, with 450 activeduty officers and several hundred retired officers, also is seeking input from the National Fraternal Order of Police, he said.
Article 19, Section 14 of the state constitution prohibits lotteries. In a 1997 case, the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled that bingo halls constituted “gambling houses.” State law bans gambling, except for betting at tracks in Hot Springs and West Memphis.
In a January 2005 opinion, then-Attorney General Mike Beebe wrote that the only way to make charitable bingo legal would be to change the state constitution.
In November, voters approved a constitutional amendment allowing religious groups and other nonprofit organizations to run bingo games and raffles. The amendment left it to the General Assembly to pass legislation implementing it.
Rep. Shirley Walters, RGreenwood, sponsored the legislation for Act 388 setting the rules, establishing a licensing mechanism for the operators, and giving the state Department of Finance and Administration the authority to regulate the games.
First-time violators of the law are subject to a misdemeanor offense with a fine not to exceed $ 5, 000. Subsequent violations by licensed, authorized organizations carry a $ 10, 000 fine.
At the time the legislation was being considered, the Department of Finance and Administration staff calculated $ 600, 000 in revenue each year from bingo taxes and fees, Atchley said.
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