Judges: Robert A. Butterworth Attorney General
Filed Date: 8/15/1994
Status: Precedential
Modified Date: 7/5/2016
The Honorable Harry Lee Coe III State Attorney Thirteenth Judicial Circuit 5th Floor County Courthouse Annex Tampa, Florida 33602
Dear Mr. Coe:
You have asked for my opinion on the following questions:
1. Whether a company may lawfully possess and/or manufacture slot machines and/or component parts for slot machines in the State of Florida if the slot machines are not used or displayed in contravention of sections
2. Whether slot machines are within the exception under section
In sum:
1. A company may not lawfully possess or manufacture slot machines or the component parts for such devices in the State of Florida.
2. The exemption contained in Section
Your office has been requested to review whether slot machines or their component parts can lawfully be manufactured in the State of Florida and shipped to states in which the possession and use of slot machines is legal. This company also wishes to have two or three slot machines shipped to Florida in order to study their construction.
Question One
Pursuant to section
It is unlawful: (1) To manufacture, own, store, keep, possess, sell, rent, lease, let on shares, lend or give away, transport, or expose for sale or lease, or to offer to sell, rent, lease, let on shares, lend or give away, or permit the operation of, or for any person to permit to be placed, maintained, or used or kept in any room, space, or building owned, leased or occupied by him or under his management or control, any slot machine1 or device or any part thereof; or (2) To make or to permit to be made with any person any agreement with reference to any slot machine or device, pursuant to which the user thereof, as a result of any element of chance or other outcome unpredictable to him, may become entitled to receive any money, credit, allowance, or thing of value or additional chance or right to use such machine or device, or to receive any check, slug, token or memorandum entitling the holder to receive any money, credit, allowance or thing of value.
Thus, not only is gambling using a slot machine illegal but the possession of these devices themselves, which are by definition designed for gambling, is unlawful.
When the proscribed instruments are actually named and described in a statute, Florida courts have sustained pertinent statutory provisions which prohibited their use or possession.2 The Florida Supreme Court upheld a statute which prohibited possession of slot machines or similar devices operated by coin. The court stated:3
And we are of the opinion that it was the purpose of the legislature in enacting this statute, not only to suppress the use of these gambling devices, or the keeping of them for gambling purposes, but also to prohibit the ownership of the keeping of them, whether for gambling purposes or not; otherwise, why make it a criminal offense to own or keep them, without qualification as to the purpose of such ownership or keeping, and why provide for their seizure and destruction? . . .
We think it is clear that for the purpose of preventing the use of a device for gambling the Legislature may prohibit its possession or ownership, when it is designed for that purpose. The statute does not make its intended use for gambling a prerequisite.
Thus, section
The only case directly addressing the provisions of section
Schultz dealt with the interpretation of an entirely different statute, section
A slot machine, as defined by section
Thus, the court determined that, in contrast to those devices described in section
You also ask whether it is legal for a company to manufacture slot machines or their component parts. Clearly, section
The word "manufacture" is used in section
The term "manufacture" appears to contemplate activities broader than the mere assembling of finished parts into a whole. Rather, the term in its common sense includes the fabrication of the component parts which will ultimately be used to construct a slot machine. Therefore, to the extent that the parts contemplated by your question are used in the fabrication of slot machines, the manufacture of these parts would also be unlawful. This conclusion is supported by the language of section
Therefore, it is my opinion that pursuant to section
Question Two
Section
Except in instances when the following described implements or apparatus are being held or transported by authorized persons for the purpose of destruction, as hereinafter provided, and except in instances when the following described instruments or apparatus are being held, sold, transported, or manufactured by persons who have registered with the United States Government pursuant to the provisions of Title 15 of the United States Code, ss. 1171 et seq., as amended, so long as the described implements or apparatus are not displayed to the general public, sold for use in Florida, or held or manufactured in contravention of the requirements of 15 U.S.C. ss. 1171 et seq., it shall be unlawful for any person to manufacture, sell, transport, offer for sale, purchase, own, or have in his possession any roulette wheel or table, faro layout, crap table or layout, chemin de fer table or layout, chuck-a-luck wheel, bird cage such as used for gambling, bolita balls, chips with house markings, or any other device, implement, apparatus, or paraphernalia ordinarily or commonly used or designed to be used in the operation of gambling houses or establishments, excepting ordinary dice and playing cards.10
The list of gambling devices set forth in section
As the court in the Department of Business Regulation, Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco v. Rains case made clear, the provisions of sections
In Schultz v. State,11 the Florida Supreme Court interpreted section
It is my opinion that slot machines do not come within the scope of section
Sincerely,
Robert A. Butterworth Attorney General
RAB/tgk