N.Y. Racing, Pari-Mutuel Wagering and Breeding Law § 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 state racing and wagering board for a license so to do. If, in the judgment of the state racing and wagering board 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 state racing and wagering board 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 state racing and wagering board for, and the state racing and wagering board 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 state racing and wagering board 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 state racing and wagering board 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 state racing and wagering board 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 state racing and wagering board, 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 state tax commission. Any such license may also be issued upon any other condition that the state racing and wagering board 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 board and shall contain such information or other material or evidence as the board 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 board. The term "racing week" shall include those days as defined by the rules and regulations of the racing and wagering board.
4. In considering an application for a license under this section the state racing and wagering board 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 board 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 which owns stock in or shares in the profits, or participates in the management, of the affairs of such applicant, or which leases to such applicant the track where it shall operate:
1. (i) has been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude;
2. (ii) has engaged in bookmaking or other forms of illegal gambling;
3. (iii) has been found guilty of any fraud or misrepresentation in connection with racing or breeding;
4. (iv) has 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;
5. (v) has violated any rule, regulation or order of the board; 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 board 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 board to affect adversely the conduct of pari-mutuel harness racing by such association or corporation in accordance with the provisions of this article, the board 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.
6. 5-a. The board shall not issue a license pursuant to this section to any harness racing association or corporation which 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 per centum of the programs and races so conducted during nineteen hundred eighty-five or during nineteen hundred eighty-six, or one hundred per centum 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 per centum 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 per centum 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, which the board approves or because of weather conditions that are unsafe or hazardous which the board approves shall not be construed as a failure to conduct a race day; provided further, the board 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 utilized to measure the minimum number of pari-mutuel programs and pari-mutuel races, as approved by the board. Nothing in the foregoing paragraph shall affect any agreement in effect on or before the effective date of this paragraph. The board 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.
7. 5-b. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of subdivision five-a of this section and article ten of this chapter, where the board 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 board 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 board to diminish simulcasting activities or incur an increased tax liability as a result of a board sanctioned reduction in its live racing activity under this subdivision.
8. 6. The board shall also have power to refuse to grant a license: a. To any association or corporation, the charter or certificate of incorporation of which shall fail to contain a provision requiring any stockholder, upon written demand of the association or corporation, to sell his 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 board; 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 which, having been a licensee, has failed in the opinion of the board 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.
9. 7. Pending final determination of any question under this section, the board 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.
10. 8. Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, the state racing and wagering board 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.
11. 9. The board 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".
12. 10. Notwithstanding the provisions of section three hundred twenty-one of this chapter, 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 board shall not be bound by technical rules of evidence but all evidence offered before the board shall be reduced to writing, and such evidence together with the exhibits, if any, and the findings of the board, shall be permanently preserved and shall constitute the record of the board in such case. Such hearing may be presided over by the chairman of the board or by any member or by an officer of the board designated by the chairman 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 two members of the board, shall become the findings of the board. The action of the board 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.