Third Quarter Commission Report
4U. tr'
V if & vi3 I
During this quarter the Gaming Commission's workload focused on background in
vestigations of Primary Management Officials of Spirit Mountain Casino. Also, this
quarter the Commission concluded its work licensing the influx of employees for
the Legends Restaurant and continued follow-up testing in areas identified in the Oregon
State Police - Tribal Gaming Section audit conducted earlier in the year. Near the end of
the quarter, the Commission began reviewing current employee licenses for renewal.
During this quarter, the Commission acted on 367 applications for a gaming license and
65 license renewals. All renewals were approved without conditions. Of the new applica
tions for licensure, 374 were approved, 10 denied and 1 referred back to staff for more
information. Of the approvals, 45 have limited and conditional licenses. This means they
must appear again before the Commission. Each is accountable for meeting specific
responsibilities set as a condition or limit on their license.
The Commission revoked the gaming license of 2 employees for failing to meet condi
tions. At the request of the Commission Director, the Commissioners approved the emer
gency suspension of the license of 2 employees. After reviewing, the Commission ex
tended the suspensions for 90 days to allow the employees the opportunity to address the
violations identified. Also, this quarter there were 3 individuals who were originally denied
gaming licenses who appealed the decision. Of those, one was sustained as a denial and
two were approved with limitations and conditions.
The Commission met twice a month to address the heavy workload which will likely
continue until all the current employee licenses have been reviewed for renewal. Critical
to renewal for employees with limitations and conditions is the initiative they show to
meet their responsibilities.
GRAND RONDE GAMING COMMISSION. From left: Gene Davidson, Bob
Watson, Bill Miles, Leonette Galligher, and Lynn Hillman.
In addition to agenda items pertaining to personnel
licensing applications, the Commission's agenda also
included the following items relating to the licensure of
Major, Minor and Sensitive Procurement Contractors:
1) Kobetron, Inc. Miamisberg, OH. Approved a
Temporary Sensitive Procurement Contractors License
until the Commission's regularly scheduled meeting on
October 18, 1996.
2) Rafsco, Inc. Sparks, NV. Approved a Temporary
Sensitive Procurement Contractors License until the
Commission's regularly scheduled meeting on October
18, 1996.
3) No Peek 21 Laughlin, NV. Approved licensure as a
Sensitive Procurement Contractor.
1 ) The Bud Jones Company Las Vegas, NV. Approved
licensure as a Sensitive Procurement Contractor.
2) Mikohn Gaming, Inc. Las Vegas, NV. In response to
the vendor's licensing conditions, testimony was pres
ented to the Commission by Mikohn representatives
relating to the status of the VLT validation process and
reliability of VLT analysis reports. Additionally, testimony
was received relating to a bar coding system currently
underdevelopment.
3) Reliable Business Concerns, Inc., dba: Reliable
Security Services Everett, WA. Approved licensure as
a Sensitive Pro-curement Contractor.
1) Sodak Gaming, Inc. Rapid City, SD. Approved an
application to renew the applicant's licensure as a Major
Procurement Contractor, licensure to expire at the
Commission's September 1997 meeting.
2) Allied Paper Products, Inc. Omaha, NE. Application
withdrawn by the Director.
3) WMS Gaming, Inc. Las Vegas, NV. Approved an
application to renew the applicant's licensure as a Major
Procurement Contractor, licensure to expire at the
Commission's September 1 997 meeting.
4) VSR Lock, Inc. Las Vegas, NV. Approved licensure
as a Minor Procurement Contractor.
5) IGT Las Vegas, NV. Approved a Temporary Major
Procurement Contractors License until the Commission's
regularly scheduled meeting on December 20, 1996.
REGULATION CHANGES
The Gaming Commission is continuing to refine the
Regulations. The following modifications, amendments
and additions were approved by the Commissioners
during the third quarter of 1 996:
MIC - Gaming Integrity 23 (d). Minimum Internal Control
was amended to require panic buttons to be accessible by
each cage cashier.
REG. 5B.080 Video lottery terminal Kobetron testing.
Regulation was added to establish the procedures by
which the Commission will assume responsibility for
verifying that VLT Eproms have been properly approved
by International Gaming Labs and are authorized for
usage in the State of Oregon. This function has pre
viously been performed by the Oregon State Police-Tribal
Gaming Section.
REG. 24.050, 1. (a), (b), (c) Maximum table bet limits.
Regulation was amended to allow for maximum blackjack
table bet limits to increase to $500 and provide for
increased training requirements.
REG. 3.030, 6. Primary management official, high
security employee, low security employee and temporary
student intern. Regulation was amended to allow for
certain employees to be hired upon notification by the
Commission of theirTemporary Gaming License approval
without having to wait a specified number of working
days.
REG. 23.075 Poker dealer training requirements.
Regulation was added requiring poker dealers and
supervisors to have a minimum level of training before
assuming their responsibilities.
OTHER REGULATORY ISSUES
SuperPlay Kids Club. During the quarter, the Com
mission, in conjunction with Casino management, suc
cessfully negotiated a Memorandum of Understanding
with the State of Oregon Employment Department Child
Care Division for the licensing and inspection of the
SuperPlay Kids Club located within the gaming estab
lishment. The Commission will continue to license
SuperPlay's employees as Low Security Employees
(those not involved in gaming wagering activities or
gaming cash); however, instead of duplicating the
background investigations performed by the State, the
Commission will generally rely on the State's suitability
determination.
Oregon Association of Indian Gaming Commissions. The
OAIGC is continuing to move forward with its com
munication network and implementation of the encoded
data transmission system is expected to occur between
the Tribes and State early in the next quarter.
The Grand Ronde Gaming Commission has assumed a
leadership position in putting together a team of account
ants from the various commissions to conduct an audit of
the State Police-Tribal Gaming Section billing records.
The audit objective will be to validate the integrity of the
billing process and verify that amounts billed are not in
excess of actual costs incurred.
Commission Working Sessions. During the quarter, the
Commission held monthly working session meetings, in
which work was performed drafting suggested changes
for the Gaming Ordinance and State Compact. These
meetings also provide a forum in which informal dis
cussions could occur with casino management and
information gained at training seminars by Commission
ers and staff can be shared.
Public Access to Regulatory Information. During the
quarter, representative from the Commission participated
in a meeting called by the Governor's Office to discuss
with media officials the question of whether the public
should have access to confidential regulatoryfinancial
information concerning casinos. In regards to regulatory
data, it appeared that the individuals participating in the
meeting agreed that the disclosure of such information
could put gaming facilities and employees therein at risk;
therefore, it seems unlikely that the media will pursue the
release of such documentation. In regards to financial
data, a consensus between Tribal and media rep
resentative on the issue of disclosure was not obtained
and it is likely this will continue to be a point of
contention.
Regulation 31 Certain Cash Transactions. To ensure
compliance with Internal Revenue Code 31 governing
cash transactions, the Commission met with IRS
representatives seeking a review of our regulations. It
was determined that the Commission's REG. 31 is not
only adequate, but exceeds the corresponding federal
regulation. REG. 31.020, for example, which was copied
from Nevada, is much more effective at deterring money
laundering than the federal regulation since it prohibits
cash for cash transactions greater than $2,500.
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