South Carolina General Assembly
112th Session, 1997-1998

Bill 4554


Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter


                    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



History


Body    Date      Action Description                       Com     Leg Involved
______  ________  _______________________________________  _______ ____________

House   19980129  Introduced, read first time,             30 HWM
                  referred to Committee

View additional legislative information at the LPITS web site.


(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

A BILL

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.

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