N.Y. Racing, Pari-Mutuel Wagering and Breeding Law § 307: Licenses for harness race meetings

§ 307. Licenses for harness race meetings. 1. Any association or

corporation desiring to conduct harness race meetings at which

pari-mutuel betting shall be permitted may apply annually to the

commission for a license so to do. If, in the judgment of the commission

the public interest, convenience or necessity will be served thereby and

a proper case for the issuance of such license is shown consistent with

the purposes of sections two hundred twenty-two through seven hundred

five of this chapter and the best interests of racing generally, it may

grant such license for a term ending not later than the thirty-first day

of December next succeeding the granting thereof, specifying dates and

hours during which and the place where the licensee may operate;

provided, however, that any harness racetrack which applies to the

commission for permission to make one or more capital improvements may,

in connection with such application or before or after such application,

also apply to the commission for, and the commission shall, as an

inducement for or in recognition of the making of such capital

improvement, grant a capital improvement license, which may be

conditioned on the completion of the capital improvement if not yet

made, for a period of not more than twenty-five years, but in no event

for a period longer than is necessary to amortize any loan for capital

improvements and shall specify for each year of the term of said license

the minimum number of days on which, and the minimum number of hours on

each such day, and the places where said licensee may conduct such

harness race meetings at which pari-mutuel betting shall be permitted.

Such a capital improvement license shall be issued if in the judgment of

the commission the public interest, convenience or necessity will be

served thereby and a proper case for the issuance of such a license is

shown consistent with the purposes of sections two hundred twenty-two

through seven hundred five of this chapter and the best interests of

racing generally, and in determining the period and other terms of such

capital improvement license, the commission shall be guided by the

nature of the capital improvement and the cost thereof. Such capital

improvement license shall automatically expire, irrespective of the term

thereof, when the loan of funds upon which it has been issued, has been

paid off by the licensee. Where a capital improvement license is

granted, the commission shall specify annually the dates on which, but

not beyond the thirty-first day of December, and hours during which such

licensee may operate, at the places and for the full number of days and

hours specified in its capital improvement license.

2. Every such license shall be issued upon condition:

a. that every harness horse race meeting at which pari-mutuel betting

is conducted shall be subject to the supervision of and to the

reasonable rules and regulations from time to time prescribed by the

commission, and

b. that pari-mutuel betting conducted thereunder shall also be subject

to the supervision of and to the reasonable regulations from time to

time prescribed by the department of taxation and finance. Any such

license may also be issued upon any other condition that the commission

shall determine to be necessary or desirable to insure that the public

interest, convenience or necessity is served.

3. Applications for licenses shall be in such form as may be

prescribed by the commission and shall contain such information or other

material or evidence as the commission may require. Each application for

renewal of a license shall be deemed to be an application for a new

license. The fee for such licenses shall be one hundred dollars for each

racing day payable in installments in advance of each week's racing

which sums shall be paid into the general fund of the state treasury by

the commission. The term "racing week" shall include those days as

defined by the rules and regulations of the commission.

4. In considering an application for a license under this section the

commission may give consideration to the number of licenses already

granted and to the location of the tracks previously licensed. No such

license shall be granted to any track which has not conducted

pari-mutuel harness racing during at least ten calendar years and which

is located within ten miles of a state, county or town fair conducting

harness racing for the three consecutive years immediately preceding

April second, nineteen hundred fifty-three, which license shall be

operative during the racing dates of such fair, unless the association,

corporation or society conducting such fair shall affirmatively waive

objection to the issuance of such license for dates within such period.

No such license shall be granted to any track located within the

corporate limits of a city of the first class. No such license shall be

granted to any harness horse racetrack located within twenty-five miles

of any track already licensed for the same dates and hours except with

the consent of the licensee located within such twenty-five mile area.

5. The commission may refuse to grant a license to an association or

corporation if it shall determine that:

a. Any officer, director, member or stockholder of such association or

corporation applying for a license, or of any association or corporation

that owns stock in or shares in the profits, or participates in the

management, of the affairs of such applicant, or that leases to such

applicant the track where such applicant will operate has:

(i) been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude;

(ii) engaged in bookmaking or other forms of illegal gambling;

(iii) been found guilty of any fraud or misrepresentation in

connection with racing or breeding;

(iv) been guilty of any violation or attempt to violate any law, rule

or regulation of any racing jurisdiction for which suspension from

racing might be imposed in such jurisdiction;

(v) violated any rule, regulation or order of the commission; or

b. The experience, character or general fitness of any officer,

director or stockholder of any of the aforesaid associations or

corporations is such that the participation of such person in harness

racing or related activities would be inconsistent with the public

interest, convenience or necessity or with the best interests of racing

generally; but if the commission determines that the interest of any

stockholder referred to in this paragraph or in paragraph a of this

subdivision is insufficient in the opinion of the commission to affect

adversely the conduct of pari-mutuel harness racing by such association

or corporation in accordance with the provisions of this article, the

commission may disregard such interest in determining whether or not to

grant a license to such association or corporation; or

c. The applicant is not the owner of the track at which it will

conduct pari-mutuel harness racing pursuant to the license applied for,

or that any person, firm, association or corporation other than the

applicant shares, or will share, in the profits of the applicant, other

than by dividends as a stockholder, or participates or will participate

in the management of the affairs of the applicant.

5-a. The commission shall not issue a license pursuant to this section

to any harness racing association or corporation that does not apply to

conduct at its facilities a minimum number of pari-mutuel programs and

pari-mutuel races at its facilities equal to at least seventy-five

percent of the programs and races so conducted during nineteen hundred

eighty-five or during nineteen hundred eighty-six, or one hundred

percent of the programs and races so conducted during two thousand,

whichever is greater; provided, however, that for a harness racing

association or corporation located in Westchester and Erie counties,

such minimum number of pari-mutuel programs and pari-mutuel races at its

facilities shall equal at least one hundred percent of the programs and

races conducted during two thousand. If the track did not conduct races

during two thousand, such minimum number of pari-mutuel programs and

pari-mutuel races at its facilities shall equal at least ninety percent

of the programs and races conducted during two thousand at Buffalo

raceway, in the town of Hamburg and county of Erie, unless cancellation

of a race day because of an act of God, that the commission approves or

because of weather conditions that are unsafe or hazardous that the

commission approves shall not be construed as a failure to conduct a

race day; provided further, the commission shall not grant a license to

such association or corporation upon application unless such programs

and races are conducted during the same calendar year period as were

conducted during the applicable period above used to measure the minimum

number of pari-mutuel programs and pari-mutuel races, as approved by the

commission. Nothing in the foregoing paragraph shall affect any

agreement in effect on or before the effective date of this paragraph.

The commission may grant a license to such association or corporation to

conduct fewer such programs and races for good cause shown due to

factors beyond the control of such association or corporation, and upon

consent of the representative horsemen's association, as determined

pursuant to section three hundred eighteen of this article.

5-b. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of subdivision five-a

of this section and article ten of this chapter, where the commission

certifies by December first of the proceeding year that the number of

standardbred horses eligible for competition is less than that of the

base year as defined in subdivision five-a of this section, and only if

the authorized horsemen's association concurs as evidenced by a written

agreement between the track and the horsemen's association, a licensee

pursuant to this section may submit and the commission may accept a

license application requesting a reduced number of race dates where it

is in the best interest of racing within this state and provided that

the licensee shall not be penalized or required by the commission to

diminish simulcasting activities or incur an increased tax liability as

a result of a commission-sanctioned reduction in its live racing

activity under this subdivision.

6. The commission shall also have power to refuse to grant a license:

a. to any association or corporation, the charter or certificate of

incorporation of which fails to contain a provision requiring any

stockholder, upon written demand of the association or corporation, to

sell his, her or its stock to the association or corporation at a price

to be fixed in the manner otherwise provided by law, provided such

demand be made pursuant to written direction of the commission; and from

and after the date of the making of such demand, prohibiting the

transfer of such certificate of stock, except to the association or

corporation; or

b. to any association or corporation that, having been a licensee, has

failed in the opinion of the commission to properly maintain its track

and plant in good condition or has failed to make adequate provision for

rehabilitation and capital improvements to its track and plant.

7. Pending final determination of any question under this section, the

commission may issue a temporary license upon such terms and conditions

as it may deem necessary, desirable or proper to effectuate the

provisions of sections two hundred twenty-two through seven hundred five

of this chapter.

8. Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, the commission

may, no more than once in any calendar year, grant a license to any

authorized harness racing association or corporation to hold and conduct

one additional harness race meeting of not more than seven days

duration, with pari-mutuel betting, on any mile track within this state,

to enable said authorized harness racing association or corporation to

conduct a special stakes race not limited to the Hambletonian stakes and

associated events.

9. The commission shall have power to direct that every certificate of

stock of an association or corporation licensed under the provisions of

sections two hundred twenty-two through seven hundred five of this

chapter shall bear a legend plainly and prominently imprinted upon the

face of the certificate reading: "This certificate of stock is

transferable only subject to the provisions of section three hundred

three of the racing, pari-mutuel wagering and breeding law".

10. Notwithstanding the provisions of section three hundred twenty-one

of this article, the refusal of an application for such license shall be

preceded by notice and an opportunity to be heard. In the conduct of

such hearing the commission shall not be bound by technical rules of

evidence but all evidence offered before the commission shall be reduced

to writing, and such evidence together with the exhibits, if any, and

the findings of the commission, shall be permanently preserved and shall

constitute the record of the commission in such case. Such hearing may

be presided over by the chair of the commission or by any member or by

an officer of the commission designated by the chair in writing to act

as hearing officer and such person or persons may issue subpoenas for

witnesses and administer oaths to witnesses. The hearing officer, at the

conclusion of the hearing shall make findings which, if concurred in by

a majority of the commission, shall become the findings of the

commission. The action of the commission in refusing a license shall be

reviewable in the supreme court in the manner provided by the provisions

of article seventy-eight of the civil practice law and rules.