{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-238.545","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 238.545","heading":"Restrictions on frequency, prizes, and participants for various types of","body":"charitable gaming -- Limitations on charitable organizations that conduct\ncharity fundraising events -- Affirmative defense.                  (Effective July 15,\n2026)\n(1) A licensed charitable organization shall be limited by the following:\n(a) In the conduct of bingo, to one (1) session per day, three (3) sessions per\nweek, for a period not to exceed five (5) consecutive hours in any day and not\nto exceed fifteen (15) total hours per week:\n1. A licensed charitable organization shall not conduct bingo at more than\none (1) location during the same twenty-four (24) hour period;\n2. A licensed charitable organization shall not award prizes for bingo that\nexceed five thousand doll ars ($5,000) in fair market value per twenty -\nfour (24) hour period, including the value of door prizes; and\n3. A person under the age of eighteen (18) shall not be permitted to\npurchase bingo supplies or play bingo unless he or she is playing for\nnoncash p rizes and is accompanied by a parent or legal guardian and\nonly if the value of any noncash prize awarded does not exceed ten\ndollars ($10);\n(b) 1. A licensed charitable organization may provide card -minding devices\nfor use by players of bingo games.\n2. If a licensed charitable organization offers card -minding devices for use\nby players, the devices shall be capable of being used in conjunction\nwith bingo cards or paper sheets at all times.\n3. Subject to the authority of the corporation, the office shall have broad\nauthority to define and regulate the use of card -minding devices and the\ncorporation may promulgate an administrative regulation concerning use\nand control of them;\n(c) Charity game t ickets shall be sold only at the address of the location\ndesignated on the license to conduct charitable gaming;\n(d) Charity game tickets may be sold, with prior approval of the office:\n1. At any authorized special charity fundraising event conducted by a\nlicensed charitable organization at any off-site location; or\n2. By a licensed charitable organization possessing a special limited\ncharitable gaming license at any off-site location; and\n(e) An automated charity game ticket dispenser may be utilized by a licensed\ncharitable organization, with the prior approval of the office, only at the\naddress of the location designated on the license to conduct charitable gaming.\nThe corporation may promulgate administrative regulations regulating the use\nand control of approved automated charity game ticket dispensers.\n(2) (a) A prize for an individual charity game ticket shall not exceed one thousand\nfour hundred ninety-nine dollars ($1,499) in value, not including the value of\ncumulative or carryover prizes awarded in seal card games.\n(b) Cumulative or carryover prizes in seal card games shall not exceed two\nthousand four hundred dollars ($2,400).\n(c) Information concerning rules of the particular game and prizes that are to be\nawarded in excess of fifty dollars ($50) in each separate package or series of\npackages with the same serial number and all rules governing the handling of\ncumulative or carryover prizes in seal card games shall be posted prominently\nin an area where charity game tickets are sold. A legible poster that lists prizes\nto be awarded, and on which prizes actually awarded are posted at the\ncompletion of the sale of each separate package shall satisfy this requirement.\n(d) Any unclaimed money or prize shall return to the charitable organization.\n(e) A pa per charity game ticket shall not be sold in the Commonwealth of\nKentucky that does not conform to the standards for opacity, randomization,\nminimum information, winner protection, color, and cutting established by the\noffice.\n(f) An electronic pulltab dev ice representation of a charity game ticket shall not\nbe sold in the Commonwealth of Kentucky that does not conform to the\nconstruction standards set forth in an administrative regulation promulgated\nby the corporation. Electronic pulltab devices shall only be used for charitable\ngaming.\n(g) A person under the age of eighteen (18) shall not be permitted to purchase, or\nopen in any manner, a charity game ticket.\n(3) (a) Tickets for a raffle shall be sold separately, and each ticket shall constitute a\nseparate and equal chance to win.\n(b) All raffle tickets shall be sold for the price stated on the ticket, and a person\nshall not be required to purchase more than one (1) ticket or to pay for\nanything other than a ticket to enter a raffle.\n(c) Raffle tickets and tickets for charity fundraising raffle games approved by the\noffice which are offered exclusively at charity fundraising events and special\nlimited charity fundraising events are not required to be sold separately and\nmay be sold at discounted package rates.\n(d) Raffle tickets shall have a unique identifier on each ticket.\n(e) Winners shall be drawn at random at a date, time, and place announced in\nadvance or printed on the ticket.\n(f) All prizes for a raffle shall be identified in advance of the drawing a nd all\nprizes identified shall be awarded.\n(4) With respect to charity fundraising events, a licensed charitable organization shall\nbe limited as follows:\n(a) A licensed charitable organization shall not conduct a charity fundraising\nevent or a special lim ited charity fundraising event unless they have a license\nfor the respective event issued by the office;\n(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter to the contrary, a special\nlicense shall not be required, nor shall any age restriction apply, for any wheel\ngame or game of chance, such as a cake wheel, that awards only noncash\nprizes the value of which does not exceed one hundred dollars ($100);\n(c) The office may grant approval for a licensed charitable organization to play\nbingo games at a cha rity fundraising event. Cash prizes for bingo games\nplayed during a charity fundraising event may not exceed five thousand\ndollars ($5,000) for the entire event. A person under the age of eighteen (18)\nshall not be permitted to play bingo at a charity fund raising event unless\naccompanied by a parent or legal guardian;\n(d) The office may grant approval for a licensed charitable organization to play\nspecial limited charitable games at a charity fundraising event authorized\nunder this section. The office shall  not grant approval for the playing of\nspecial limited charitable games under the provisions of a charity fundraising\nevent license unless the proposed event meets the definition of a charity\nfundraising event held for community, social, or entertainment p urposes apart\nfrom charitable gaming in accordance with KRS 238.505(11);\n(e) Except for state, county, city fairs, and special limited charity fundraising\nevents, a charity fundraising event license issued under this section shall not\nexceed seventy -two (7 2) consecutive hours. A licensed charitable\norganization shall not be eligible for more than eight (8) total charity\nfundraising event licenses per year, including two (2) special limited charity\nfundraising event licenses. A person under eighteen (18) years of age shall not\nbe allowed to play or conduct any special limited charitable game. Subject to\nthe authority of the corporation, the office shall have broad authority to\nregulate the conduct of special limited charity fundraising events in\naccordance with the provisions of KRS 238.547; and\n(f) Charity fundraising events may be held:\n1. On or in the premises of a licensed charitable organization;\n2. In a licensed charitable gaming facility, subject to restrictions contained\nin KRS 238.555(7); or\n3. At an unlicensed facility which shall be subject to the requirements\nstipulated in KRS 238.555(3), and subject to the restrictions contained in\nKRS 238.547(2).\n(5) In any prosecution for selling charitable gaming supplies to a minor, it shall be an\naffirmative defense that the sale was induced by the use of false, fraudulent, or\naltered identification papers or other documents and that the appearance and\ncharacter of the purchaser were such that the purchaser's age could not have been\nascertained by any other means and that the purchaser's appearance and character\nindicated strongly that the purchaser was of legal age to purchase charitable gaming\nsupplies. This evidence may be introduced either in mitigation of the charge or as a\ndefense to the charge itself.","path":["KRS Chapter 238"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=58119","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:52:51Z","sha256":"7417bdcb344966e212d12dc92526fab6f0902b8819bb5d5e72140cb5f9e9fae0","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-238.540","next":"us-ky/krs-238.547"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}