§19-23-13 Disposition of funds for payment of outstanding and unredeemed pari-mutuel tickets; publication of notice; irredeemable tickets; stake races for dog tracks.
§19-23-13. Disposition of funds for payment of outstanding and unredeemed pari-mutuel tickets; publication of notice; irredeemable tickets; stake races for dog tracks.
(a) All moneys held by any licensee for the payment of outstanding and unredeemed pari-mutuel tickets, if not claimed within ninety days after the close of a horse or dog race meeting or the televised racing day, as the case may be, in connection with which the tickets were issued, shall be turned over by the licensee to the racing commission within fifteen days after the expiration of the ninety-day period, and the licensee shall give any information required by the racing commission concerning the outstanding and unredeemed tickets. The moneys shall be deposited by the racing commission in a banking institution of its choice in a special account to be known as "West Virginia Racing Commission Special Account - Unredeemed Pari-Mutuel Tickets." Notice of the amount, date and place of each deposit shall be given by the racing commission, in writing, to the state treasurer. The racing commission shall then cause to be published a notice to the holders of the outstanding and unredeemed pari-mutuel tickets, notifying them to present their unredeemed tickets for payment at the principal office of the racing commission within ninety days from the date of the publication of the notice. The notice shall be published within fifteen days following the receipt of the outstanding and unredeemed pari-mutuel ticket moneys by the commission from the licensee as a Class I legal advertisement in compliance with the provisions of article three, chapter fifty-nine of this code, and the publication area for the publication shall be the county in which the horse or dog race meeting was held and the county in which the televised racing day wagering was conducted in this state.
(b) Any outstanding and unredeemed pari-mutuel tickets that are not presented for payment within ninety days from the date of the publication of the notice are thereafter irredeemable, and the moneys theretofore held for the redemption of the pari-mutuel tickets shall become the property of the racing commission and shall be expended as provided in this subsection. The racing commission shall maintain separate accounts for each licensee and shall record in each separate account the moneys turned over by the licensee and the amount expended at the licensee's track for the purposes set forth in this subsection. The moneys in the West Virginia racing commission special account - unredeemed pari-mutuel tickets shall be expended as follows:
(1) To the owner of the winning horse in any horse race at a horse race meeting held or conducted by any licensee: Provided, That the owner of the horse is at the time of the horse race a bona fide resident of this state, a sum equal to ten percent of the purse won by the horse at that race: Provided, however, That in the event there are more than ten races in any performance, the award to the resident owner of the winning horse will be that fractional share of the purse with a numerator of one and a denominator representing the number of races on the day of the performance. The commission may require proof that the owner was, at the time of the race, a bona fide resident of this state. Upon proof by the owner that he or she filed a personal income tax return in this state for the previous two years and that he or she owned real or personal property in this state and paid taxes in this state on real or personal property for the previous two years, he or she shall be presumed to be a bona fide resident of this state; and
(2) To the breeder (that is, the owner of the mare) of the winning horse in any horse race at a horse race meeting held or conducted by any licensee: Provided, That the mare foaled in this state, a sum equal to ten percent of the purse won by the horse: Provided, however, That in the event there are more than ten races in any performance, the award to the breeder will be that fractional share of the purse with a numerator of one and a denominator representing the number of races on the day of the performance; and
(3) To the owner of the stallion which sired the winning horse in any horse race at a horse race meeting held or conducted by any licensee: Provided, That the mare which foaled the winning horse was served by a stallion standing and registered in this state, a sum equal to ten percent of the purse won by the horse: Provided, however, That in the event there are more than ten races in any performance, the award to the owner of the stallion will be percentage of the purse based upon the fractional share represented by the number of races on the day of the performance; and
(4) To those horse racing licensees not participating in the thoroughbred development fund authorized in section thirteen-b of this article, the unexpended balance of the licensee's account not expended as provided in subdivisions (1), (2) and (3) of this subsection: Provided, That all moneys distributed under this subdivision shall be expended solely for capital improvements at the licensee's track: Provided, however, That the capital improvements must be approved, in writing, by the West Virginia racing commission before funds are expended by the licensee for that capital improvement; and
(5) When the moneys in the special account, known as the West Virginia racing commission special account - unredeemed pari-mutuel tickets will more than satisfy the requirements of subdivisions (1), (2), (3) and (4) of this subsection, the West Virginia racing commission shall have the authority to expend the excess moneys from unredeemed horse racing pari-mutuel tickets as purse money in any race conditioned exclusively for West Virginia bred or sired horses, and to expend the excess moneys from unredeemed dog racing pari-mutuel tickets in supplementing purses and establishing stake races and dog racing handicaps at the dog tracks: Provided, That subject to the availability of funds, the commission shall, after the requirements of subdivisions (1), (2), (3) and (4) of this subsection have been satisfied:
(A) Transfer annually two hundred thousand dollars to the West Virginia racing commission special account - West Virginia greyhound breeding development fund;
(B) Transfer annually two hundred thousand dollars into a separate account to be used for stakes races for West Virginia bred greyhounds at dog racetracks; and
(C) Transfer annually two hundred thousand dollars to a trust maintained and administered by the organization which is recognized by the West Virginia racing commission, pursuant to a legislative rule proposed for promulgation by the commission and authorized by the Legislature, as the representative of the majority of the active jockeys in West Virginia, for the purpose of providing health and disability benefits to eligible active or disabled West Virginia jockeys and their dependents in accordance with eligibility criteria established by said organization. For purposes of this section in determining health benefits, an eligible active jockey is one who rides at least one hundred mounts per calendar year of which fifty-one must be in the state of West Virginia: Provided, That a jockey is not eligible for health benefits if he or she receives health benefits from any other state; and
(D) After all payments to satisfy the requirements of (A), (B) and (C) of this proviso have been satisfied, the commission shall have authority to transfer one hundred fifty thousand dollars left from all uncashed pari-mutuel tickets to the trust maintained and administered by the organization which is recognized by the West Virginia racing commission, pursuant to legislative rule proposed for promulgation by the commission and authorized by the Legislature as the representative of the majority of the active jockeys in West Virginia.
(c) The commission shall submit to the legislative auditor a quarterly report and accounting of the income, expenditures and unobligated balance in the special account created by this section known as the West Virginia racing commission special account - unredeemed pari-mutuel tickets.
(d) Nothing contained in this article shall prohibit one person from qualifying for all or more than one of the aforesaid awards or for awards under section thirteen-b of this article.
(e) The cost of publication of the notice provided for in this section shall be paid from the funds in the hands of the state treasurer collected from the pari-mutuel pools' tax provided for in section ten of this article, when not otherwise provided in the budget; but no such costs shall be paid unless an itemized account thereof, under oath, be first filed with the state auditor.
(f) The racing commission is authorized to promulgate emergency rules, prior to the first day of July, two thousand four, to incorporate the revisions to this article enacted during the two thousand four regular legislative session.