46th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2003

RELATING TO GAMING; REQUIRING PERIODIC ELECTRONIC OVERSIGHT OF GAMING MACHINES AT A RACETRACK GAMING OPERATOR LICENSEE'S PREMISES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

Section 1. Section 60-2E-43 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1997, Chapter 190, Section 45) is amended to read:

"60-2E-43. GAMING [MACHINE CENTRAL SYSTEM] MACHINES--CONTINUOUS MONITORING FOR NONPROFIT GAMING OPERATOR LICENSEES--ON-SITE MONITORING--PERIODIC TELECOMMUNICATIONS RETRIEVAL FOR RACETRACK GAMING OPERATOR LICENSEES.--

A. The board shall develop and operate a central system into which all licensed gaming machines operated by nonprofit gaming operator licensees are connected. The central system shall be capable of:

[A.] (1) monitoring continuously, retrieving and auditing the operations, financial data and program information of the network;

[B.] (2) disabling from operation or play any gaming machine in the network that does not comply with the provisions of the Gaming Control Act or the regulations of the board;

[C.] (3) communicating, through program modifications or other means equally effective, with all gaming machines licensed by the board;

[D.] (4) interacting, reading, communicating and linking with gaming machines from a broad spectrum of manufacturers and associated equipment; and

[E.] (5) providing linkage to each gaming machine in the network at a reasonable and affordable cost to the state and the gaming operator licensee and allowing for program modifications and system updating at a reasonable cost.

B. The board shall develop and operate an electronic data retrieval system that is capable of retrieving information gathered by a central computer monitoring and accounting system located on each racetrack gaming operator licensee's premises. The electronic data retrieval system shall:

(1) obtain information from each racetrack gaming operator licensee on the operation, financial transactions and program information of each gaming machine; and

(2) contact the central computer system of the racetrack gaming operator licensee by a dedicated telecommunications connection, on a read-only basis, upon the entry of appropriate security codes.

C. Each racetrack gaming operator licensee shall:

(1) install at its own expense a central computer system that is capable of continuously monitoring and auditing the operation, financial transactions and program information of each gaming machine on the premises pursuant to board rules and that can be contacted remotely by the state's electronic data retrieval system through a dedicated telecommunications connection at any hour of the day, regardless of whether the racetrack gaming operator licensee is open at the time of contact;

(2) be capable of transmitting the data gathered by the central computer system of each racetrack gaming operator licensee specific to each gaming machine to the electronic data retrieval system of the board; and

(3) designate an individual to be available at all times gaming machines are in operation, who shall have the authority to disable a gaming machine at the verbal instruction of the executive director or his designee. A gaming machine disabled pursuant to an instruction of the executive director or his designee shall not be placed back into play except pursuant to the subsequent verbal instruction of the executive director or his designee, following resetting of the gaming machine."

Section 2. Section 60-2E-44 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1997, Chapter 190, Section 46, as amended) is amended to read:

"60-2E-44. MACHINE SPECIFICATIONS.--

A. To be eligible for licensure, each gaming machine shall meet all specifications established by [regulations] rule of the board and:

[A.] (1) be unable to be manipulated in a manner that affects the random probability of winning plays or in any other manner determined by the board to be undesirable;

[B.] (2) have at least one mechanism that accepts coins or currency;

[C. be capable of having play suspended through the central system by the executive director until he resets the gaming machine;

D.] (3) house nonresettable mechanical and electronic meters within a readily accessible locked area of the gaming machine that maintain a permanent record of all money inserted into the machine, all cash payouts of winnings, all refunds of winnings, all credits played for additional games and all credits won by players;

[E.] (4) be capable of printing out, at the request of the executive director, readings on the electronic meters of the machine;

[F.] (5) for machines that do not dispense coins or tokens directly to players, be capable of printing a ticket voucher stating the value of a cash prize won by the player at the completion of each game, the date and time of day the game was played in a twenty-four-hour format showing hours and minutes, the machine serial number, the sequential number of the ticket voucher and an encrypted validation number for determining the validity of a winning ticket voucher;

[G. be capable of being linked to the board's central system for the purpose of being monitored continuously as required by the board;

H.] (6) provide for a payback value for each credit wagered, determined over time, of not less than eighty percent or more than ninety-six percent;

[I.] (7) meet the standards and specifications set by laws or regulations of the states of Nevada and New Jersey for gaming machines, whichever are more stringent;

[J.] (8) offer only games authorized and examined by the board; and

[K.] (9) display the gaming machine license issued for that machine in an easily accessible place, before and during the time that a machine is available for use.

B. Each gaming machine located on a nonprofit gaming operator licensee's premises shall be capable of:

(1) having play suspended through a central system by the executive director until he resets the gaming machine; and

(2) being linked to the board's central system for the purpose of being monitored continuously as required by the board.

C. Each gaming machine located on a racetrack gaming operator licensee's premises shall be capable of:

(1) having play suspended by an employee of the racetrack gaming operator licensee upon instruction of the executive director until the gaming operator licensee resets the gaming machine on the instruction of the executive director; and

(2) being linked to the board's electronic data retrieval system for the purpose of being monitored intermittently as required by the board."

Section 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.--The effective date of the provisions of this act is July 1, 2003.