Mississippi § 75-76-57 - Prohibited acts; exceptions; exemption of holding company from licensing requirements; information required for exceptions; persons subject to suitability finding and licensing requirements; licensees prohibited from contracting with persons found unsuitable.

§ 75-76-57. Prohibited acts; exceptions; exemption of holding company from licensing requirements; information required for exceptions; persons subject to suitability finding and licensing requirements; licensees prohibited from contracting with persons found unsuitable.

Except as otherwise provided in subsections (2) and (3) of this section, it is unlawful for any person to: Lend, let, lease or otherwise deliver or furnish any equipment of any gambling game, including any slot machine, for any interest, percentage or share of the money or property played, under guise of any agreement whatever, without having first procured a state gaming license. Lend, let, lease or otherwise deliver or furnish, except by a bona fide sale or capital lease, any slot machine under guise of any agreement whereby any consideration is paid or is payable for the right to possess or use that slot machine, whether the consideration is measured by a percentage of the revenue derived from the machine or by a fixed fee or otherwise, without having first procured a state gaming license. Furnish services or property, real or personal, on the basis of a contract, lease or license, pursuant to which that person receives payments based on earnings or profits or otherwise from any gambling game without having first procured a state gaming license. The provisions of subsection (1) do not apply to any person: Whose payments are a fixed sum determined in advance on a bona fide basis for the furnishing of services or property. Who furnishes services or property under a bona fide rental agreement or security agreement for gaming equipment. That is a wholly owned subsidiary of: A corporation or limited partnership holding a state gaming license; or A holding company or intermediary company, or publicly traded corporation, that has registered pursuant to this chapter and which has fully complied with the laws applicable to it. Who is licensed as a distributor and who rents or leases any equipment of any gambling game under a bona fide agreement where the payments are a fixed sum determined in advance and not determined as a percentage of the revenue derived from the equipment or slot machine. Receipts or rentals or charges for real property, personal property or services do not lose their character as payments of a fixed sum or as bona fide because of provisions in a contract, lease or license for adjustments in charges, rentals or fees on account of changes in taxes or assessments, escalations in the cost-of-living index, expansions or improvement of facilities, or changes in services supplied. Receipts of rentals or charges based on percentage between a corporate licensee or a licensee who is a limited partnership and the entities enumerated in paragraph (c) are permitted under this subsection. The commission may, upon issuance of its approval or a finding of suitability, exempt a holding company from the licensing requirements of subsection (1). The executive director may require any person exempted by the provisions of subsection (2) or paragraph (b) of subsection (1) to provide such information as he may require to perform his investigative duties. The executive director may require a finding of suitability, and the commission may require the licensing, of any person who: Owns any interest in the premises of a licensed establishment or owns any interest in real property used by a licensed establishment whether he leases the property directly to the licensee or through an intermediary. Repairs, rebuilds or modifies any gaming device. Manufactures or distributes chips or gaming tokens for use in Mississippi. If the commission finds a person described in subsection (5) unsuitable, a licensee shall not enter into any contract or agreement with that person without the prior approval of the executive director. Any other agreement between the licensee and that person must be terminated upon receipt of notice of the action by the commission. Any agreement between a licensee and a person described in subsection (5) shall be deemed to include a provision for its termination without liability on the part of the licensee upon a finding by the commission that the person is unsuitable. Failure expressly to include that condition in the agreement is not a defense in any action brought pursuant to this section to terminate the agreement.