TITLE 50 STATE GOVERNMENT

Section 27. Lottery for Education, 50-27-1 through 50-27-104.

ARTICLE 3 BONA FIDE COIN OPERATED AMUSEMENT MACHINES

50-27-102. Role of corporation; implementation and certification; separation of funds and accounting; disputes.

1. Upon successful implementation and certification of the Class B accounting terminal under the provisions of Code Section 50-27-101, and for the first fiscal year thereafter, the corporation shall:
   1. Retain 5 percent of the net receipts;
   2. Provide, within five business days of receipt, 47.5 percent of the net receipts to the location owner and location operator for the cost associated with allowing the Class B machines to be placed; and
   3. Provide, within five business days of receipt, 47.5 percent of the net receipts to the operator holding the Class B master license for the cost of securing, operating, and monitoring the machines.
2. In each fiscal year after the implementation and certification required by subsection (a) of this Code section, the corporation's share shall increase 1 percent, taken evenly from the location owner or location operator and the operator, to a maximum of 10 percent.
3. The corporation shall require location owners and location operators to place all bona fide coin operated amusement machine proceeds due the corporation in a segregated account in institutions insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation not later than the close of the next banking day after the date of their collection by the retailer until the date they are paid over to the corporation. At the time of such deposit, bona fide coin operated amusement machine proceeds shall be deemed to be the property of the corporation. The corporation may require a location owner or location operator to establish a single separate electronic funds transfer account where available for the purpose of receiving proceeds from Class B machines, making payments to the corporation, and receiving payments for the corporation. Unless otherwise authorized in writing by the corporation, each bona fide coin operated amusement machine location owner or location operator shall establish a separate bank account for bona fide coin operated amusement machine proceeds which shall be kept separate and apart from all other funds and assets and shall not be commingled with any other funds or assets. Whenever any person who receives proceeds from bona fide coin operated amusement machines becomes insolvent or dies insolvent, the proceeds due the corporation from such person or his or her estate shall have preference over all debts or demands. If any financial obligation to the corporation has not been timely received, the officers, directors, members, partners, or shareholders of the location owner or location operator shall be personally liable for the moneys owed to the corporation.
4. 1. As a condition of the license issued pursuant to this article, no master licensee or location owner or location operator shall replace or remove a Class A or Class B bona fide coin operated amusement machine from a location until the master licensee and location owner or location operator certify to the corporation that there are no disputes regarding any agreement, distribution of funds, or other claim between the master licensee and location owner or location operator; provided, however, that this certification shall not be required if a master licensee is replacing its own Class A or Class B bona fide coin operated amusement machine at a location. If either the master licensee or location owner or location operator is unable to make the certification required by this Code section, the corporation shall refer the dispute to a hearing officer as set forth in this subsection.
   2. The corporation shall have jurisdiction of all disputes between and among any licensees or former licensees whose licenses were issued pursuant to this article relating in any way to any agreement involving coin operated amusement machines, distribution of funds, tortious interference with contract, other claims against a subsequent master license holder or location owner, or any other claim involving coin operated amusement machines; provided, however, that this paragraph shall not apply to any agreement which expired on or before April 10, 2013. Except as provided in paragraph (1) of this subsection, the corporation shall refer any dispute certified by any master licensee against any other master licensee or any location owner or location operator or by any location owner or location operator against any master licensee to a hearing officer. For the purpose of service on licensees with respect to disputes, each licensee or former licensee shall register and keep current with the corporation the name of an agent and his or her address and an e-mail address which shall be made available to any licensee on request. Service by registered mail, courier delivery, or overnight mail delivered to the agent's registered address and to the e-mail address shall be adequate service on the licensee for a hearing on the dispute. All disputes subject to the provisions of this Code section certified by a master licensee, location owner, or location operator shall be decided by a hearing officer approved or appointed by the corporation. The corporation shall adopt rules and regulations governing the selection of hearing officers after consultation with the Bona Fide Coin Operated Amusement Machine Operator Advisory Board. Costs of the hearing officer's review, including any hearing set pursuant to this Code section, shall be shared equally between the parties in the dispute unless provided otherwise in the agreement or by the hearing officer; provided, however, that the corporation shall not be responsible for any of the costs associated with the dispute resolution mechanism set forth in this Code section. If any party fails to timely pay the costs of the hearing officer's review within ten days of service of notice of costs by the hearing officer, the hearing officer shall grant a default judgment on liability against the nonpaying party. The hearing officer shall then consider evidence related to damages or any other relief and shall render judgment based upon a preponderance of the evidence.
   3. The corporation shall also adopt rules governing the procedure, evidentiary matters, and any prehearing discovery applicable to disputes resolved pursuant to this Code section. Such rules shall be consistent with the Georgia Arbitration Code, and the corporation shall consult the Bona Fide Coin Operated Amusement Machine Operator Advisory Board regarding the procedures or rules adopted pursuant to this subsection. Notwithstanding Code Section 9-9-9, such procedures and rules shall include at least the right of notice to produce books, writings, and other documents or tangible things; depositions; and interrogatories.
   4. If requested by the master licensee or the location owner or location operator, the hearing officer shall conduct a hearing as to the dispute, but in no case unless extended by the hearing officer for good cause shall the hearing officer conduct a hearing more than 90 days after he or she has been appointed or selected to decide the dispute. No Class B bona fide coin operated amusement machine that is subject to the dispute resolution mechanism required by this Code section shall be removed from the terminal by a master licensee, location owner, or location operator or otherwise prevented by a master licensee, location owner, or location operator from play by the public until a final decision is entered and all appellate rights have been exhausted, or until the master licensee and location owner or location operator agree to a resolution, whichever occurs first.
   5. The decision of the hearing officer may be appealed to the chief executive officer or his or her designee. The chief executive officer shall not reverse a finding of fact of the hearing officer if any evidence supports the hearing officer's conclusion. The chief executive officer shall not reverse a conclusion of law of the hearing officer unless it was clearly erroneous, arbitrary, and capricious or exceeded the hearing officer's jurisdiction. The decision of the chief executive officer may be appealed to the Superior Court of Fulton County, which court shall not reverse the chief executive officer's findings of fact unless it is against the weight of the evidence as set forth in Code Section 5-5-21, and the chief executive officer's legal conclusions shall not be set aside unless there is an error of law.

(Code 1981, §50-27-102, enacted by Ga. L. 2013, p. 37, § 1-1/HB 487; Ga. L. 2015, p. 39, § 9/SB 190; Ga. L. 2016, p. 762, § 5/SB 388; Ga. L. 2016, p. 864, § 50/HB 737; Ga. L. 2018, p. 1112, § 50/SB 365.)

The 2015 amendment, effective July 1, 2015, added subsection (d).

The 2016 amendments. The first 2016 amendment, effective May 3, 2016, in paragraph (d)(2), added the present first four sentences, in the present fifth sentence, inserted "certified by a master licensee, location owner, or location operator", in the present seventh sentence, substituted "Code section" for "Code Section" and inserted "unless provided otherwise in the agreement or by the hearing officer", and added the last two sentences; and, in the first sentence of paragraph (d)(4), inserted "unless extended by the hearing officer for good cause". The second 2016 amendment, effective May 3, 2016, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, revised capitalization in subsection (b) and paragraph (d)(2).

The 2018 amendment, effective May 8, 2018, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, revised punctuation in the third and fourth sentences of paragraph (d)(2).