2014 Iowa Code
TITLE III - PUBLIC SERVICES AND REGULATION
SUBTITLE 4 - GAMBLING
CHAPTER 99D - PARI-MUTUEL WAGERING
SECTION 99D.7 - Powers.

99D.7  Powers.

The commission shall have full jurisdiction over and shall supervise all race meetings governed by this chapter.  The commission shall have the following powers and shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A to implement this chapter:

1.  To investigate applicants and determine the eligibility of applicants for a license and to select among competing applicants for a license the applicant which best serves the interests of the citizens of Iowa.

2.  To identify occupations within the racing industry which require licensing and adopt standards for licensing the occupations including establishing fees for the occupational licenses.  The fees shall be paid to the commission and used as required in section 99D.17.

3.  To adopt standards regarding the duration of thoroughbred and quarter horse racing seasons, so that a thoroughbred racing season shall not be less than sixty-seven days, and so that a quarter horse racing season shall not be less than twenty-six days. The thoroughbred and quarter horse racing seasons shall be run independently unless mutually agreed upon by the associations representing the thoroughbred and quarter horse owners and the licensee of the horse racetrack located in Polk county.

4.  To adopt standards under which all race meetings shall be held and standards for the facilities within which the race meetings shall be held.

5.  a.  To regulate the purse structure for race meetings including establishing a minimum purse.

b.  The commission shall, beginning January 1, 2012, regulate the purse structure for all horse racing so that seventy-six percent is designated for thoroughbred racing, fifteen and one-quarter percent is designated for quarter horse racing, and eight and three-quarter percent is designated for standardbred racing.  The purse moneys designated for standardbred racing may only be used to support standardbred harness racing purses at the state fair, county fairs, or other harness racing tracks approved by the commission, or for the maintenance or repair of harness racing tracks at the fairgrounds for such fairs or other harness racing tracks approved by the commission. The horse racetrack in Polk county shall not provide funding to support standardbred racing at such county fairs that is not otherwise provided for in this paragraph.

c.  (1)  The purse moneys designated for standardbred racing shall be payable to a nonprofit corporation operated exclusively for those purposes allowed an exempt organization under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code, as defined in section 422.3, which was organized under the laws of this state on or before January 1, 2008, which exists for the promotion of the sport of harness racing in this state, and which received supplemental payments from the horse racetrack in Polk county for the conduct of harness racing during the 2010 calendar year. The nonprofit corporation receiving such purse moneys shall complete and provide to the commission an annual audit and accounting of the allocation of such moneys.

(2)  Of the purse moneys designated for thoroughbred racing, two percent shall be distributed to an organization representing owners of thoroughbred race horses for the purpose of paying the annual operating expenses of the organization and for the promotion and marketing of Iowa-bred horses. The organization receiving such purse moneys shall complete and provide to the commission an annual audit and accounting of the allocation of such moneys.

(3)  Of the purse moneys designated for quarter horse racing, two percent shall be distributed to an organization representing owners of quarter horse race horses for the purpose of paying the annual operating expenses of the organization and for the promotion and marketing of Iowa-bred horses. The organization receiving such purse moneys shall complete and provide to the commission an annual audit and accounting of the allocation of such moneys.

6.  To cooperate with the department of agriculture and land stewardship to establish and operate, or contract for, a laboratory and related facilities to conduct saliva, urine, and other tests on animals that are to run or that have run in races governed by this chapter.

7.  To establish and provide for the disposition of fees for the testing of animals sufficient to cover the costs of the tests and to purchase the necessary equipment for the testing.

8.  To enter the office, racetrack, facilities, or other places of business of a licensee to determine compliance with this chapter.

9.  To investigate alleged violations of this chapter or the commission rules, orders, or final decisions and to take appropriate disciplinary action against a licensee or a holder of an occupational license for the violation, or institute appropriate legal action for enforcement, or both. Information gathered during an investigation is confidential during the pendency of the investigation.  Decisions by the commission are final agency actions pursuant to chapter 17A.

10.  To authorize stewards, starters, and other racing officials to impose fines or other sanctions upon a person violating a provision of this chapter or the commission rules, orders, or final orders, including authorization to expel a tout, bookmaker, or other person deemed to be undesirable from the racetrack facilities.

11.  To require the removal of a racing official, an employee of a licensee, or a holder of an occupational license, or employee of a holder of an occupational license for a violation of this chapter or a commission rule or engaging in a fraudulent practice.

12.  To prevent an animal from racing if the commission or commission employees with cause believe the animal or its owner, trainer, or an employee of the owner or trainer is in violation of this chapter or commission rules.

13.  To withhold payment of a purse if the outcome of a race is disputed or until tests are performed on the animals to determine if they were illegally drugged.

14.  To provide for immediate determination of the disposition of a challenge by a racing official or representative of the commission by establishing procedures for informal hearings before a panel of stewards at a racetrack.

15.  To require a licensee to file an annual balance sheet and profit and loss statement pertaining to the licensee’s racing activities in this state, together with a list of the stockholders or other persons having any beneficial interest in the racing activities of each licensee.

16.  To issue subpoenas for the attendance of witnesses and subpoenas duces tecum for the production of books, records and other pertinent documents in accordance with chapter 17A, and to administer oaths and affirmations to the witnesses, when, in the judgment of the racing and gaming commission, it is necessary to enforce this chapter or the commission rules.

17.  To keep accurate and complete records of its proceedings and to certify the records as may be appropriate.

18.  To require all licensees to use a computerized totalizator system for calculating odds and payouts from the pari-mutuel wagering pool and to establish standards to insure the security of the totalizator system.

19.  To revoke or suspend licenses and impose fines not to exceed one thousand dollars.

20.  To require licensees to indicate in their racing programs those horses which are treated with the legal medication furosemide or phenylbutazone.  The program shall also indicate if it is the first or subsequent time that a horse is racing with furosemide, or if the horse has previously raced with furosemide and the present race is the first race for the horse without furosemide following its use.

21.  Notwithstanding any contrary provision in this chapter, to provide for interstate combined wagering pools related to simulcasting horse or dog races and all related interstate pari-mutuel wagering activities.

22.  To cooperate with the gambling treatment program administered by the Iowa department of public health to incorporate information regarding the gambling treatment program and its toll-free telephone number in printed materials distributed by the commission.  The commission may require licensees to have the information available in a conspicuous place as a condition of licensure.

23.  To require licensees to establish a process to allow a person to be voluntarily excluded for life from a racetrack enclosure and all other licensed facilities under this chapter and chapter 99F.  The process established shall require that a licensee disseminate information regarding persons voluntarily excluded to all licensees under this chapter and chapter 99F. The state and any licensee under this chapter or chapter 99F shall not be liable to any person for any claim which may arise from this process.  In addition to any other penalty provided by law, any money or thing of value that has been obtained by, or is owed to, a voluntarily excluded person by a licensee as a result of wagers made by the person after the person has been voluntarily excluded shall not be paid to the person but shall be credited to the general fund of the state.

24.  To require licensees to establish a process with the state for licensees to have electronic access to names and social security numbers of debtors of claimant agencies through a secured interactive internet site maintained by the state.

25.  To take any other action as may be reasonable or appropriate to enforce this chapter and the commission rules.

83 Acts, ch 187, §7; 84 Acts, ch 1265, §3; 84 Acts, ch 1266, §6; 88 Acts, ch 1137, §1; 89 Acts, ch 231, §32; 91 Acts, ch 166, §1; 91 Acts, ch 260, §1205; 94 Acts, ch 1100, §1; 95 Acts, ch 205, §34; 96 Acts, ch 1212, §11; 2004 Acts, ch 1136, §6 – 8; 2008 Acts, ch 1172, §2; 2009 Acts, ch 182, §101; 2011 Acts, ch 111, §1, 2; 2013 Acts, ch 90, §257

Referred to in §12.10, 99D.10, 99D.11, 99D.22, 99D.28, 99F.6

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