Current Status Bill Number:4554 Type of Legislation:General Bill GB Introducing Body:House Introduced Date:19980129 Primary Sponsor:Meacham All Sponsors:Meacham, Simrill, Vaughn, Leach, Hamilton, Davenport, R. Smith and Lanford Drafted Document Number:jic\5201htc.98 Residing Body:House Current Committee:Ways and Means Committee 30 HWM Subject:Video games with free play feature, municipal corporations may prohibit location of; Gambling, coin-operated, Political
Body Date Action Description Com Leg Involved ______ ________ _______________________________________ _______ ____________ House 19980129 Introduced, read first time, 30 HWM referred to CommitteeView additional legislative information at the LPITS web site.
TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING SECTION 12-21-2805 SO AS TO AUTHORIZE A MUNICIPALITY BY ORDINANCE TO PROHIBIT THE LOCATION OF VIDEO GAMES WITH A FREE PLAY FEATURE WITHIN THE MUNICIPALITY; AND TO AMEND SECTION 12-21-2720, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO LICENSING OF COIN-OPERATED MACHINES OR DEVICES, SO AS TO DELETE FROM THE PROHIBITION ON A MUNICIPALITY LIMITING THE NUMBER OF COIN-OPERATED MACHINES OR DEVICES IN THE MUNICIPALITY VIDEO GAMES WITH A FREE PLAY FEATURE.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. Article 20, Chapter 21, Title 12 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"Section 12-21-2805. Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, a municipality, by ordinance, may prohibit the location within the municipality of video games with a free play feature licensed pursuant to Section 12-21-2720(A)(3). This prohibition may be enforced by civil or criminal penalties, or both, in the manner provided by law. The holder of a license for a video game with a free play feature located in a municipality which has prohibited such machines, upon surrender of the license to the Department of Revenue, must be issued a prorated refund for the balance of the license period. A similar refund must be issued by the municipality for any municipal license fee imposed on the machine pursuant to this subsection."
SECTION 2. Section 12-21-2720(B) of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Section 54C, Part II, Act 155 of 1997, is further amended to read:
"(B) No municipality may limit the number of machines within the boundaries of the municipality. However, a municipality may prohibit the location of video games with a free play feature within the municipality as provided in Section 12-21-2805. A municipality may by ordinance impose a license fee on machines licensed pursuant to subsection (A)(3) of this section in an amount not exceeding ten percent of three thousand six hundred dollars of the license fee imposed pursuant to subsection (A) for the equivalent license period."
SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.