Terms Used In New York Laws > General Municipal > Article 9-A - Local Option For Conduct of Games of Chance By Certain Organizations

• Affirmed: In the practice of the appellate courts, the decree or order is declared valid and will stand as rendered in the lower court.
• Allegation: something that someone says happened.
• Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
• Authorized games of chance lessor: shall mean an authorized organization which has been granted a lessor's license pursuant to the provisions of this article or a municipality. See N.Y. General Municipal Law 186
• Authorized organization: shall mean and include any bona fide religious or charitable organization or bona fide educational, fraternal or service organization or bona fide organization of veterans or volunteer firefighters, which by its charter, certificate of incorporation, constitution, or act of the legislature, shall have among its dominant purposes one or more of the lawful purposes as defined in this article, provided that each shall operate without profit to its members, and provided that each such organization has engaged in serving one or more of the lawful purposes as defined in this article for a period of three years immediately prior to applying for a license under this article. See N.Y. General Municipal Law 186
• Bell jars: shall mean and include those games in which a participant shall draw a card from a jar, vending machine, or other suitable device or container which contains numbers, colors or symbols that are covered and which, when uncovered, may reveal that a prize shall be awarded on the basis of a designated winning number, color or symbol or combination of numbers, colors or symbols. See N.Y. General Municipal Law 186
• Bequest: Property gifted by will.
• Board: shall mean New York state gaming commission created pursuant to section one hundred two of the racing, pari-mutuel wagering and breeding law. See N.Y. General Municipal Law 186
• Clerk: shall mean the clerk of a municipality outside the city of New York. See N.Y. General Municipal Law 186
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Department: shall mean the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs. See N.Y. General Municipal Law 186
• Devise: To gift property by will.
• Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. ^Source:
• Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• Event game: shall mean a bell jar game in which certain winners are determined by the random selection of one or more bingo numbers, the use of a seal card or by another method approved by the board. See N.Y. General Municipal Law 186
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Ex officio: Literally, by virtue of one's office.
• Executive session: A portion of the Senate's daily session in which it considers executive business.
• Fair market value: The price at which an asset would change hands in a transaction between a willing, informed buyer and a willing, informed seller.
• Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
• Flare: shall mean a poster description of the bell jar game, which shall include a declaration of the number of winners and amount of prizes in each deal, the number of prizes available in the deal, the number of tickets in each deal which contain the stated prize; the manufacturer's game form number, and the serial number of the deal which shall be identical to the serial number imprinted on each ticket contained in the deal. See N.Y. General Municipal Law 186
• Games of chance: shall mean and include only the games known as "merchandise wheels" "coin boards" "merchandise boards" "seal cards" "event games" "raffles" and "bell jars" and such other specific games as may be authorized by the board, in which prizes are awarded on the basis of a designated winning number or numbers, color or colors, symbol or symbols determined by chance, but not including games commonly known as "bingo or lotto" which are controlled under article fourteen-H of this chapter and also not including "bookmaking" "policy or numbers games" and "lottery" as defined in § 225. See N.Y. General Municipal Law 186
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• Indemnification: In general, a collateral contract or assurance under which one person agrees to secure another person against either anticipated financial losses or potential adverse legal consequences. ^{Source: FDIC}
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Lawful purposes: shall mean one or more of the following causes, deeds or activities:
  
  (a) Those which shall benefit needy or deserving persons indefinite in number by enhancing their opportunity for religious or educational advancement, by relieving them from disease, suffering or distress, or by contributing to their physical wellbeing, by assisting them in establishing themselves in life as worthy and useful citizens, or by increasing their comprehension of and devotion to the principles upon which this nation was founded and enhancing their loyalty to their governments. See N.Y. General Municipal Law 186
• Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). ^{Source: OCC}
• Legal tender: coins, dollar bills, or other currency issued by a government as official money. ^{Source: U.S. Mint}
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• License period: shall mean a period of time not to exceed fourteen consecutive hours and, for purposes of the game of chance known as a bell jar and a raffle, "license period" shall mean a period of time running from January first to December thirty-first of each year. See N.Y. General Municipal Law 186
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Majority leader: see Floor Leaders
• merchandise board: shall mean a board used in conjunction with bell jar tickets which contains and displays various coins and/or merchandise as prizes. See N.Y. General Municipal Law 186
• Minority leader: See Floor Leaders
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Municipality: shall mean any city, town or village within this state. See N.Y. General Municipal Law 186
• Net proceeds: shall mean (a) in relation to the gross receipts from one or more license periods of games of chance, the amount that shall remain after deducting the reasonable sums necessarily and actually expended for supplies and equipment, prizes, security-personnel, stated rental if any, bookkeeping or accounting services according to a schedule of compensation prescribed by the board, janitorial services and utility supplies if any, license fees, and the cost of bus transportation, if authorized by the clerk or department and (b) in relation to the gross rent received by an authorized games of chance lessor for the use of its premises by a game of chance licensee, the amount that shall remain after deducting the reasonable sums necessarily and actually expended for janitorial services and utility supplies directly attributable thereto if any. See N.Y. General Municipal Law 186
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• Officer: shall mean the chief law enforcement officer of a municipality outside the city of New York, or if such municipality exercises the option set forth in subdivision two of section one hundred ninety-four of this article, the chief law enforcement officer of the county. See N.Y. General Municipal Law 186
• One occasion: shall mean the successive operations of any one single type of game of chance which results in the awarding of a series of prizes amounting to five hundred dollars or four hundred dollars during any one license period, in accordance with the provisions of subdivision eight of section one hundred eighty-nine of this article, as the case may be. See N.Y. General Municipal Law 186
• Operation: shall mean the play of a single type of game of chance necessary to determine the outcome or winners each time wagers are made. See N.Y. General Municipal Law 186
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Premises: shall mean a designated area within a building, hall, tent, or grounds reasonably identified for the conduct of games of chance. See N.Y. General Municipal Law 186
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• Raffle: shall mean and include those games of chance in which a participant pays money in return for a ticket or other receipt and in which a prize is awarded on the basis of a winning number or numbers, color or colors, or symbol or symbols designated on the ticket or receipt, determined by chance as a result of:
  
  (a) a drawing from among those tickets or receipts previously sold; or
  
  (b) a random event, the results of which correspond with tickets or receipts previously sold. See N.Y. General Municipal Law 186
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
• Seal cards: shall mean a board or placard used in conjunction with a deal of the same serial number which contains one or more concealed areas that, when removed or opened, reveal a predesignated winning number, letter, or symbol located on the board or placard. See N.Y. General Municipal Law 186
• Series of prizes: shall mean the total amount of single prizes minus the total amount of wagers lost during the successive operations of a single type of game of chance, except that for merchandise wheels and raffles, "series of prizes" shall mean the sum of cash and the fair market value of merchandise awarded as single prizes during the successive operations of any single merchandise wheel or raffle. See N.Y. General Municipal Law 186
• Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
• Single prize: shall mean the sum of money or fair market value of merchandise or coins awarded to a participant by a games of chance licensee in any one operation of a single type of game of chance in excess of his wager. See N.Y. General Municipal Law 186
• Single type of game: shall mean the games of chance known as merchandise wheels, coin boards, merchandise boards, event games, raffles, and bell jars and each other specific game of chance authorized by the board. See N.Y. General Municipal Law 186
• Tort: A civil wrong or breach of a duty to another person, as outlined by law. A very common tort is negligent operation of a motor vehicle that results in property damage and personal injury in an automobile accident.
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• Uniform Commercial Code: A set of statutes enacted by the various states to provide consistency among the states' commercial laws. It includes negotiable instruments, sales, stock transfers, trust and warehouse receipts, and bills of lading. ^{Source: OCC}
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.