Florida Senate - 2026 CS for SB 204
By the Appropriations Committee on Agriculture, Environment, and
General Government; and Senator Bradley
601-02831-26 2026204c1
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to gaming; amending s. 546.10, F.S.;
3 requiring certain organizations, before purchasing,
4 installing, or operating a game or machine on their
5 premises, or that already have a game or machine
6 installed on their premises, and are in doubt about
7 whether such game or machine meets the definition of
8 an amusement game or machine, to petition the Florida
9 Gaming Control Commission for a declaratory statement
10 on whether the operation of such game or machine is
11 authorized or prohibited; prohibiting such
12 organizations from purchasing or installing a game or
13 machine until such declaratory statement is issued;
14 prohibiting such organizations from petitioning the
15 commission if the game, machine, premises, or
16 organization in question is the subject of a criminal
17 investigation; requiring the commission to issue a
18 declaratory statement within a specified timeframe;
19 prohibiting the commission from denying a petition if
20 it was validly requested; specifying the information
21 that must be included in a petition; providing that
22 the declaratory statement is valid only for the game
23 or machine for which it is requested and is invalid if
24 the specifications for the game or machine have been
25 changed; providing that the declaratory statement is
26 binding on the commission and may be introduced as
27 evidence in subsequent proceedings; providing
28 construction; amending s. 849.15, F.S.; defining
29 terms; providing criminal penalties for specified
30 offenses relating to the manufacture, possession, and
31 sale of slot machines or devices; providing that
32 shipments of legal gaming devices to Indian lands are
33 deemed legal shipments under certain circumstances;
34 providing an effective date.
35
36 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
37
38 Section 1. Present subsections (8) and (9) of section
39 546.10, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as subsections (9)
40 and (10), respectively, and a new subsection (8) is added to
41 that section, to read:
42 546.10 Amusement games or machines.—
43 (8)(a)1. Before purchasing a game or machine and installing
44 it on the premises of any veterans’ service organization granted
45 a federal charter under Title 36, U.S.C., or a division,
46 department, post, or chapter of such organization, for which an
47 alcoholic beverage license has been issued, if the organization
48 is in doubt about whether the game or machine meets the
49 definition of an amusement game or machine under this section,
50 the organization must petition the Florida Gaming Control
51 Commission for a declaratory statement pursuant to s. 120.565 on
52 whether the operation of the game or machine would be authorized
53 under this section or would be a violation of this section or
54 chapter 849. An organization awaiting such declaratory statement
55 from the commission may not purchase or install the game or
56 machine until the declaratory statement is issued.
57 2. If there is a game or machine currently on the premises
58 of any veterans’ service organization granted a federal charter
59 under Title 36, U.S.C., or a division, department, post, or
60 chapter of such organization, for which an alcoholic beverage
61 license has been issued, and the veterans’ service organization
62 is in doubt about whether the game or machine meets the
63 definition of an amusement game or machine under this section,
64 the organization, before operating the game or machine, must
65 petition the commission for a declaratory statement pursuant to
66 s. 120.565 on whether the operation of the game or machine would
67 be authorized under this section or would be a violation of this
68 section or chapter 849. If the game, machine, premises, or
69 organization is the subject of an ongoing criminal
70 investigation, the organization may not petition the commission
71 for a declaratory statement under this subsection.
72 3. The commission shall issue a declaratory statement
73 within 60 days after receiving a petition requesting such
74 statement. The commission may not deny a petition that is
75 validly requested pursuant to this subsection and s. 120.565.
76 (b) A petition made under this subsection must provide
77 enough information for the commission to issue the declaratory
78 statement and must be accompanied by the exact specifications
79 for the type of game or machine which the organization will
80 purchase or install or currently has on the premises. The
81 declaratory statement is valid only for the game or machine for
82 which it is requested and is invalid if the specifications for
83 the game or machine have been changed.
84 (c) The declaratory statement is binding on the commission
85 and may be introduced in any subsequent proceedings as evidence
86 of a good faith effort to comply with this section or chapter
87 849.
88 (d) This subsection does not prevent the commission or any
89 other criminal justice agency as defined in s. 943.045 from
90 detecting, apprehending, and arresting a person for any alleged
91 violation of this chapter, chapter 24, part II of chapter 285,
92 chapter 550, chapter 551, or chapter 849, or any rule adopted
93 pursuant thereto, or of any law of this state.
94 (e) This subsection does not require an owner or an
95 operator of an amusement game or machine under this section to
96 request or obtain a declaratory statement in order to operate
97 pursuant to this section.
98 Section 2. Section 849.15, Florida Statutes, is amended to
99 read:
100 849.15 Manufacture, sale, possession, etc., of slot
101 machines or devices prohibited.—
102 (1) As used in this section, the term:
103 (a) “Ownership interest” means a person who is an officer,
104 a director, or a managing member of any business, establishment,
105 premises, or other location.
106 (b) “Person of authority” means a person who, at any
107 business, establishment, premises, or other location at which a
108 slot machine or device is offered for play, has:
109 1. Actual authority to act on behalf of the business,
110 establishment, premises, or other location; or
111 2. Any ownership interest in the business, establishment,
112 premises, or other location.
113 (2)(1) It is unlawful:
114 (a) To manufacture, own, store, keep, possess, sell, rent,
115 lease, let on shares, lend or give away, transport, or expose
116 for sale or lease, or to offer to sell, rent, lease, let on
117 shares, lend or give away, or permit the operation of, or for
118 any person to permit to be placed, maintained, or used or kept
119 in any room, space, or building owned, leased or occupied by the
120 person or under the person’s management or control, any slot
121 machine or device or any part thereof; or
122 (b) To make or to permit to be made with any person any
123 agreement with reference to any slot machine or device, pursuant
124 to which the user thereof, as a result of any element of chance
125 or other outcome unpredictable to him or her, may become
126 entitled to receive any money, credit, allowance, or thing of
127 value or additional chance or right to use such machine or
128 device, or to receive any check, slug, token or memorandum
129 entitling the holder to receive any money, credit, allowance or
130 thing of value.
131 (3)(a) Except as provided in paragraphs (b) and (c), a
132 person who violates subsection (2) commits a misdemeanor of the
133 second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s.
134 775.083, if the violation involves five or fewer slot machines
135 or devices.
136 (b) A person commits a felony of the third degree,
137 punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084,
138 if he or she violates subsection (2), and:
139 1. The violation involves six or more slot machines or
140 devices; or
141 2. The person has one prior conviction for a violation of
142 this section.
143 (c) A person commits a felony of the second degree,
144 punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084,
145 if he or she violates subsection (2), and:
146 1. At the time of the violation, the person was a person of
147 authority and the violation involves six or more slot machines
148 or devices; or
149 2. The person has two or more prior convictions for a
150 violation of this section.
151 (4)(2) Pursuant to section 2 of that chapter of the
152 Congress of the United States entitled “An act to prohibit
153 transportation of gaming devices in interstate and foreign
154 commerce,” approved January 2, 1951, being ch. 1194, 64 Stat.
155 1134, and also designated as 15 U.S.C. ss. 1171-1177, the State
156 of Florida, acting by and through the duly elected and qualified
157 members of its Legislature, does hereby in this section, and in
158 accordance with and in compliance with the provisions of section
159 2 of such chapter of Congress, declare and proclaim that any
160 county of the State of Florida within which slot machine gaming
161 is authorized pursuant to chapter 551 is exempt from the
162 provisions of section 2 of that chapter of the Congress of the
163 United States entitled “An act to prohibit transportation of
164 gaming devices in interstate and foreign commerce,” designated
165 as 15 U.S.C. ss. 1171-1177, approved January 2, 1951. All
166 shipments of gaming devices, including slot machines, into any
167 county of this state within which slot machine gaming is
168 authorized pursuant to chapter 551 and the registering,
169 recording, and labeling of which have been duly performed by the
170 manufacturer or distributor thereof in accordance with sections
171 3 and 4 of that chapter of the Congress of the United States
172 entitled “An act to prohibit transportation of gaming devices in
173 interstate and foreign commerce,” approved January 2, 1951,
174 being ch. 1194, 64 Stat. 1134, and also designated as 15 U.S.C.
175 ss. 1171-1177, shall be deemed legal shipments thereof into this
176 state provided the destination of such shipments is an eligible
177 facility as defined in s. 551.102 or the facility of a slot
178 machine manufacturer or slot machine distributor as provided in
179 s. 551.109(2)(a).
180 (5) All shipments of legal gaming devices, including legal
181 slot machines, to Indian lands located within this state shall
182 be deemed legal shipments thereof, provided that such Indian
183 lands are held in federal trust for the benefit of a federally
184 recognized Indian tribe that is a party to a tribal-state
185 compact with the state pursuant to the federal Indian Gaming
186 Regulatory Act of 1988, 18 U.S.C. ss. 1166-1168 and 25 U.S.C.
187 ss. 2701 et seq.
188 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026.