2019 South Carolina Code of Laws
Title 3 - U.S. Government, Agreements and Relations With
Chapter 11 - Gambling Cruise Act
Section 3-11-100. Definitions.

For purposes of this chapter:

(1) "Gambling vessel" means a boat, ship, casino boat, watercraft, or barge kept, operated, or maintained for the purpose of gambling, with one or more gaming establishments aboard, that carries or operates gambling devices for the use of its passengers or otherwise provides facilities for the purpose of gambling, whether within or without the jurisdiction of this State, and whether it is anchored, berthed, lying to, or navigating, and the sailing, voyaging, or cruising, or any segment of the sailing, voyaging, or cruising begins and ends within this State.

(2) "Gambling" or "gambling device" means any game of chance and includes, but is not limited to, slot machines, punchboards, video poker or blackjack machines, keeno, roulette, craps, or any other gaming table type gambling or poker, blackjack, or any other card gambling game.

(3) "Intervening stop" occurs when a vessel departs the territorial waters of this State and sails into United States or international waters, and between the time the vessel departs the territorial waters of this State and the time it returns to the territorial waters of this State, the vessel docks at a port of call in another state, possession of the United States, or foreign country.

(4) "Destination cruise" means a cruise in which a vessel makes one or more intervening stops.

(5) "Passenger cruise liner" means a vessel that:

(a) has a draft that is equal to or larger than the controlled depth of the intercoastal waterway as determined by the United States Army Corps of Engineers;

(b) provides separate passenger cabins, including bathroom or head facilities, in a size reasonably suitable to accommodate living and sleeping space in a ratio of at least one cabin for every four passengers;

(c) contains kitchen or galley facilities and dining facilities reasonably suitable to offer and accommodate all of the vessel's passengers at seated meals in no more than two sittings for each of the meals at breakfast, lunch, and dinner times;

(d) offers other support facilities and services including, but not limited to, exercise facilities, gift shops, medical services, and musical programs;

(e) is principally engaged in entertaining and transporting passengers on destination cruises; and

(f) is certified or authorized by the United States Coast Guard or equivalent foreign authority to carry passengers for hire upon the open ocean without navigational limitations.

(6) "Per passenger" means the number of passengers allowed on a vessel pursuant to its United States Coast Guard certificate of documentation or equivalent foreign documentation.

HISTORY: 2005 Act No. 104, Section 2, eff June 1, 2005.

Editor's Note

2005 Act No. 104, Section 1, provides as follows:

"This act may be cited as the 'Gambling Cruise Act'. It is the intent of the General Assembly to delegate to counties and municipalities of this State the authority to prohibit or regulate the operation of gambling vessels that are engaged in voyages that depart from the territorial waters of the State, sail into United States or international waters, and return to the territorial waters of the State without an intervening stop, but to exempt from county or municipal regulation passenger cruise liners, as defined in Section 3-11-100(5), as contained in SECTION 2 of this act, because passenger cruise liners are vessels principally engaged in destination cruises and are not vessels used primarily for the operation of gambling. Furthermore, passenger cruise liners do not burden the public health or safety of the county or municipality because their voyages are infrequent, their cruises are not principally operated for the purpose of gambling, and their itineraries predominantly involve voyages that include one or more intervening stops."

2005 Act No. 104, Section 3, provides as follows:

"The exceptions for passenger cruise lines and Section 3-11-400(D) in this act are so connected with the other sections of the act that they are mutually dependent on each other as conditions and considerations for each other, so that the General Assembly would not have adopted this act without them; therefore, should these exceptions be found unconstitutional or invalid, it is the intent of the General Assembly that the entire act be found invalid."