Rhode Island § 5-2-10 - Bowling Alleys, Billiard Tables, and Shooting Galleries

§ 5-2-10. Licensing of billiard, bagatelle, pool, scippio tables and game rooms.

(a) No person shall keep a billiard table, bagatelle table, pool table, scippio table, or any table of a similar character, in any saloon, shop, or place of business within this state, or own or keep any billiard, bagatelle, pool, or scippio table, or any table of a similar character, for public use or profit within this state, or operate a pinball or game room without a license from the city or town council of the city or town where the table is kept or used, first had and obtained. The city or town council may grant or refuse to grant licenses for these tables, and the licenses granted continue for a term not exceeding one year.

(b) The term “pinball or game room,” as used in this section, means any public place, building, or room where three (3) or more gaming devices, machines, or apparatuses are kept for the use and entertainment of the public; or any place where the purpose of the business is to maintain three (3) or more machines, which, upon the insertion of a coin, slug, token, plate, or disc, may be operated by the public generally for use as a game or amusement whether or not registering a score and whether its operation demands skill or chance or both. The definition of game room is limited to those places that derive their principal source of income from those machines. Each city or town council may by ordinance prescribe any rules and regulations and may by ordinance determine the number of licenses to be issued that they deem necessary for the operation of pinball or game rooms; provided, that no game room located within one thousand feet (1,000′) of any elementary and/or secondary school in the city of Providence may open before four o’clock (4:00) p.m. on any school day.