2019 US Virgin Islands Code
Title 32 - Sports and Parks
Chapter 21 - Virgin Islands Casino and Resort Control Act of 1995
Article IV - Casino Control Commission — Duties and Powers
§ 423. Regulation requiring exclusion of certain persons; repeat offenders excludable from casino hotels

(a) The Commission shall, by regulation, provide for the establishment of a list of persons who are to be excluded or ejected from any licensed casino establishments. Such provisions shall define the standards for exclusion, and shall include standards relating to persons;

• (1) Who are career or professional offenders as defined by regulations of the Commission;

• (2) Who have been convicted of a criminal offense which is punishable by more than six (6) months in prison, or any crime or offense involving moral turpitude; or

• (3) Whose presence in a licensed casino hotel would in the opinion of the Commission, be inimical to the interest of the Government or of licensed gaming therein, or both. The Commission shall promulgate definitions establishing those categories of persons who shall be excluded pursuant to this section, including cheats and persons whose privileges for licensure or registration have been revoked.

(b) Race, color, creed, national origin or ancestry, or sex shall not be a reason for placing the name of any person upon such list.

(c) The Commission may impose sanctions upon a licensed casino or individual licensee or registrant in accordance with the provisions of this chapter if such casino or individual licensee or registrant knowingly fails to exclude or eject from the premises of any licensed casino any person placed by the Commission on the list of persons to be excluded or ejected.

(d) Any list compiled by the Commission of persons to be excluded or ejected shall not be deemed an all inclusive list, and licensed casino establishments shall have a duty to keep from their premises persons known to them to be within the classifications declared in subsection (a) of this section and the regulations promulgated thereunder; or known to them to be persons whose presence in a licensed casino hotel would be inimical to the interest of the Virgin Islands or of licensed gaming therein, or both, as defined in standards established by the Commission.

(e) Whenever the name or description of any person is placed on a list pursuant to this section, the Commission shall serve notice of such fact to such person by personal service, by certified mail at the last known address of such person, or by publication daily for one (1) week in a newspaper of general circulation in the Virgin Islands.

(f) Within 30 days after service by mail or in person or 60 days from the time of last publication, as the case may be, the person named for exclusion or ejection may demand a hearing before the Commission and show cause why he should have his name removed from such list; the Commission shall have the affirmative obligation to demonstrate by a preponderance of the evidence that the person named for exclusion or ejection satisfies the criteria for exclusion established by this section and the regulations promulgated by the Commission. Failure to demand such a hearing within 30 days after service shall be deemed an admission of all matters and facts alleged in the Commission's notice and shall preclude a person from having an administrative hearing, but shall in no way affect his right to judicial review as provided herein.

(g) The Division may file an application with the Commission requesting preliminary placement on the list of a person named in a petition for exclusion or ejection pending completion of a hearing on the petition. The hearing on the application for preliminary placement shall be a limited proceeding at which the Division shall have the affirmative obligation to demonstrate that there is a reasonable possibility that the person satisfies the criteria for exclusion established by this section and the Commission's regulations. If a person has been placed on the list as a result of an application for preliminary placement, unless otherwise agreed by the Commission and the named person, a hearing on the petition for exclusion or ejection shall be initiated within thirty (30) days after the receipt of a demand for such hearing or the date of preliminary placement on the list, whichever is later.

(h) If, upon completion of the hearing, the Commission determines that the regulation does not or should not apply to the person so listed, the Commission shall notify all casino licensees of such determination.

(i) If, upon completion of a hearing, the Commission determines that the placement of the name of the person on the exclusionary list was appropriate, the Commission shall make and enter an order to that effect. Such order shall be subject to review by the Superior Court in accordance with the rules of court.

(j) A casino licensee may exclude or eject from its casino hotel any person who is known to it to have been convicted of a felony, or on at least two occasions convicted of a misdemeanor in or on the premises of any casino hotel. Nothing in this section or in any other law of this Territory shall limit the right of a casino licensee to exercise its common law right to exclude or eject permanently from its hotel any person who disrupts the operations of its premises, threatens the security of its premises or its occupants, or is disorderly or intoxicated.