KRS 230.300: License to conduct race meetings or engage in simulcasting and intertrack

wagering as a receiving track -- Application -- Racing dates.

(1) Any person desiring to conduct horse racing at a horse race meeting within the

Commonwealth of K entucky or to engage in simulcasting and intertrack wagering

as a receiving track during any calendar year shall first apply to the corporation for

a license to do so. The application shall be filed at the corporation's general office

on or before October 1 of the preceding year with respect to applications to conduct

live horse race meetings, and with respect to intertrack wagering dates, and on

forms prescribed by the corporation. The application shall include the following

information:

(a) The full name and address of the person making application;

(b) The location of the place, track, or enclosure where the applicant proposes to

conduct horse racing meetings;

(c) The dates on which the applicant intends to conduct horse racing, which shall

be successive days unless authorized by the corporation;

(d) The proposed hours of each racing day and the number of races to be

conducted;

(e) The names and addresses of all principals associated with the applicant or

licensee;

(f) The type of organizational structure under which the applicant operates, i.e.,

partnership, trust, association, limited liability company, or corporation, and

the address of the principal place of business of the organization;

(g) Any criminal activities in any jurisdiction for which any indi vidual listed

under paragraphs (a) and (e) has been arrested or indicted and the disposition

of the charges, and any current or on -going criminal investigation of which

any of these individuals is the subject; and

(h) Any other information that the corporation by administrative regulation deems

relevant and necessary to determine the fitness of the applicant to receive a

license, including fingerprints of any individual listed under paragraphs (a)

and (e), if necessary for proper identification of the indiv idual or a

determination of suitability to be associated with a licensed racing association.

(2) An application for association license shall be accompanied by the following

documents:

(a) For a new license applicant, a financial statement prepared and attested to by a

certified public accountant in accordance with generally accepted accounting

principles, showing the following:

1. The net worth of the applicant;

2. Any debts or financial obligations owed by the applicant and the persons

to whom owed; and

3. The proposed or current financing structure for the operation and the

sources of financing.

(b) For a license renewal applicant, an audited financial statement for the prior

year;

(c) A c opy of the applicant's federal and state tax return for the previous year.

Tax returns submitted in accordance with this provision shall be treated as

confidential;

(d) A statement from the Department of Revenue that there are no delinquent

taxes or other financial obligations owed by the applicant to the state or any of

its agencies or departments;

(e) A statement from the county treasurer of the county in which the applicant

conducts or proposes to conduct horse racing meetings that there are no

delinquent real or personal property taxes owed by the applicant.

(3) The completed application shall be signed by the applicant or the chief executive

officer if the applicant is an organization, sworn under oath that the information is

true, accurate, and complete, and the application shall be notarized.

(4) If there is any change in any information submitted in the application process, the

applicant or licensee shall notify the corporation within thirty (30) days of the

change.

(5) (a) The corporation shall as so on as practicable, but in no event later than

November 1 in any calendar year, award dates for racing in the

Commonwealth during the next year. In awarding dates, the corporation shall

consider and seek to preserve each track's usual and customary dates, a s these

dates are requested. If dates other than the usual and customary dates are

requested, the applicant shall include a statement in its application setting

forth the reasons the requested dates are sought. Dates for the conduct of

intertrack wagering shall be awarded as provided in KRS 230.377.

(b) After November 1, the corporation may authorize additional racing dates or

otherwise make adjustments or amendments to the racing dates awarded if

doing so is requested by the licensed association, supported by the applicable

horsemen's group, deemed to be in the best interest of racing, and, if the

change impacts the race dates of another licensed association, only with the

affected licensed association's express written consent.

(6) The corporation may issu e a license to conduct a horse race meeting to any

association making the aforesaid application if the applicant meets the requirements

established in KRS 138.530 and other applicable provisions of this chapter, and if

the corporation finds that the propos ed conduct of racing by the association would

be in the best interest of the public health, safety, and welfare of the immediate

community as well as to the Commonwealth.

(7) As a condition precedent to the issuance of a license, the corporation may requir e a

surety bond or other surety conditioned upon the payment of all taxes due the

Commonwealth, together with the payment of operating expenses including purses

and awards to owners of horses participating in races.

(8) The corporation may impose a fee and may establish, by administrative regulation

promulgated in accordance with KRS Chapter 13A, a fee schedule for association

license applications.

(9) The corporation may require an applicant for an association license to submit to a

background check of the applicant, or of any principal, individual, or organization

associated with the applicant. The corporation shall not require a background check

for any individual who is a principal as defined in KRS 230.210 but owns stock or

financial interest in the app licant of less than ten percent (10%). An applicant shall

be required to reimburse the corporation for the cost of any background check

conducted.

(10) Every license issued under this chapter shall specify among other things the name

of the person to whom issued, the address and location of the track where the horse

race meeting to which it relates is to be held or conducted, and the days and hours

of the day when the meeting will be permitted; provided, however, that no track that

is granted overlapping da tes for the conduct of a live race meeting with another

horse racing track within a fifty (50) mile radius shall be permitted to have a post

time after 5:30 p.m., prevailing time for overlapping days between July 1 and

September 15, unless agreed to in writing by the tracks affected.

(11) A license issued under this section is neither transferable nor assignable and shall

not permit the conduct of a horse race meeting at any track not specified therein.

However, if the track specified becomes unsuitable for racing because of flood, fire,

or other catastrophe, the corporation may, upon application, authorize the meeting,

or any remaining portion thereof, to be conducted at any other suitable track

available for that purpose, provided that the owner of the track willingly consents to

the use thereof.

(12) Horse racing dates may be awarded and licenses issued authorizing horse racing on

any day of the year. Horse racing shall be held or conducted only between sunrise

and midnight.

(13) The corporation may at any time require the removal of any official or employee of

any association in those instances where it has reason to believe that the official or

employee has been guilty of any dishonest practice in connection with horse racing

or has failed to comply with any condition of his or her license or has violated any

law or any administrative regulation of the corporation.

(14) Every horse race not licensed under this section is hereby declared to be a public

nuisance and the corporation may obtain an injunction a gainst the same in the

Circuit Court of the county where the unlicensed race is proposed to take place.

(15) (a) A licensee or applicant under this chapter, KRS Chapter 238, or any other

licensee that the corporation has authority over, shall not be issued a license or

be allowed to renew a license if there is a failure by the licensee or applicant

to pay any taxes imposed under KRS 138.510, 138.513, 138.552, in addition

to any other taxes, license fees, or any other payments required to the

Commonwealth under this chapter and KRS Chapters 132, 138, 139, 141, and

238, including but not limited to:

1. Any financial obligations related to the following:

a. Pari-mutuel wagering;

b. Advance deposit wagering;

c. Sports wagering;

d. Fantasy contests;

e. Event contracts; or

f. Charitable gaming; or

2. Any transactions or fees or any other financial obligations owed to the

state or any of its agencies or departments.

(b) The Department of Revenue may provide information to the corporati on

pertaining to a potential applicant or licensee in paragraph (a) of this

subsection as permitted by KRS 131.190.