THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
OF TEXAS
Jarntnry
14, 1988
J,M MATTOX
ATTORNEY C3ENERAX.
Honorable Lloyd Criss Opinion No. JM-844
Chairman
Committee on Labor and Re: Whether a door prize
Employee Relations may be awarded during an
Texas House of Representatives intermission between bingo
P. 0. Box 2910 games (RQ-1293)
Austin, Texas 78769
Dear Representative CriSS:
You ask about the construction of the following
provision, which was added to the Bingo Enabling Act,
artrcle 179d, V.T.C.S., by the 70th Legislature:
A licensed authorized organization or
other person may not award or offer to award
a door prize or other prize to persons
present at a bingo occasion or participating
in a bingo occasion in addition to the
prizes awarded for winning the individual
bingo games.
Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 478, 53, at 4160 (to be codified
as art. 179d, 511(q)).
You are concerned that the prohibition on door prizes
has been misinterpreted. Consequently, YOU ask this
office to clarify the term "bingo occasion." You also ask
whether the prohibition on door prizes applies during the
thirty-minute intermission required by section 18 of
article 179d.
The prohibition on door prizes applies to persons
P present at of participating in a "bingo occasion." The
Bingo Enabling Act does not define "bingo occasion," but
the phrase does appear several times in the act. Section
11(f) provides in part: "A series of prizes offered or
awarded on any one bingo occasion . . . may not aggregate
more than $2,500." Section 11(k) provides: "A game of
p. 4081
Honorable Lloyd CriSS - Page 2 (J&&!&)
chance other than bingo may not be conducted or allowed
during an occasion when bingo is played." Section 11(p)
provides in part: "A licensed authorized organization may
not include in an advertisement or promotion the amount of
a prize or series of prizes offered at a bingo occasion."
Section 18 provides:
A game of bingo may not be conducted
under any license issued under this Act more
often than three days per calendar week, not
to exceed four hours per 24-hour period.
Only one bingo occasion per day may be
conducted under each license issued under
this Act. No more than two organizations
may conduct a game of bingo in one place on
one day. If two organizations conduct games
of bingo in one place on one day, these
occasions must be announced separately, and
an intermission of at least 30 minutes must
occur between the games. A game conducted
under a temporary license may not be
conducted in violation of this section.
The provisions in article 179d that use the phrase
"bingo occasion" indicate that a "bingo occasion" is a
gathering for the purpose of playing bingo games and that
the time of a bingo "occasion" includes times before,
-. between, and
durins. after the actual bingo games. See
aeneraJJ,y parrison v. Arrow Metal Products Coraoration,
174 N.W. 2d 875. 885 IMich. Ct. ADD. 1969) (*~occasion" of
a libel refers to ' time, place, and. people). Our
interpretation of the phrase "bingo occasion" is
consistent with the Comptroller*s definition of "bingo
occasion" as a "single gathering or session at which a
series of successive bingo games are played." 34 T.A.C.
03.544. We conclude, therefore, the time covered by the
phrase "bingo occasion" in article 179d, V.T.C.S.,
includes the time during which people are gathered for the
purpose of playing bingo, including times before, during,
between, and after bingo games.
Your second question is whether the prohibition on
door prizes applies during the thirty-minute intermission
required by section 18:
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Honorable Lloyd Criss - Page 3 (J&844)
If two organizations conduct games of
bingo in one place on one day, these
occasions must be announced separately, and
an intermission of at least 30 minutes must
occur between the games.
It has been suggested that the thirty-minute intermission
required by section 18 is not part of any bingo "occasion"
and therefore that section 11(q) does not prohibit the
offering or awarding of a door prize during that
thirty-minute intermission. We think that suggestion
arises from a misunderstanding of the difference between a
10qame*1and an "occasion."
Section 18 refers to the events conducted under
different licenses as "separate occasions," but it
requires a thirty-minute intermission between wqames.'l
The fact that thirty minutes must separate the "games" in
one occasion from games in another occasion does not mean
that thirty minutes must separate the "occasions." Again,
"occasion1 refers to a gathering for the purpose of
playing bingo and it encompasses more than just the time
actually spent playing bingo. The question of when any
particular l'occasion" begins and ends is a question of
fact. It seems likely, though, that two "occasionsVV
would overlap if they were conducted in the same place on
the same day and if the last bingo game of one occasion
were separated from the first bingo game of the other
occasion by only half an hour. Thus, the thirty-minute
hiatus in game-playing is likely to be part of at least
one of the bingo occasions, if not both. In such
circumstances, section 11(q) would prohibit the offering
or awarding of a door prize.
It has been suggested that the practice of awarding
door prizes during times when bingo is not actually being
played is acceptable under an emergency rule adopted by
the Comptroller. 34 T.A.C. 53.562. See 12 Tex. Req. 3632
(October 9, 1987). The Comptroller*s explanation of the
rule in question states, "The rule prohibits the offering
or awarding of any prize by any person during a bingo
occasion except for prizes for winning individual bingo
games." Id. That statement comports with our reading of
the statute. The relevant part of the rule, however,
states:
p. 4083
Honorable Lloyd Criss - Page 4 (JM-844)
Extra prizes prohibited. No authorized
organization, lessor, or other person, may
offer or award any prize to any person or
persons present at a bingo occasion or
participating in a bingo occasion other
than, or in addition to, the prizes awarded
for winning the individual bingo games.
This prohibition extends to the offering or
awarding of a prize or prizes, other than
prizes for winning bingo games authorized
under the Bingo Enabling Act during an
organization's
. . licensed times, and includes
m!z actlvltv durina licensed trmes in
connection with the offerina or awardina of
such vrrzee such as the handing out of
tickets, th; written or oral promotion of
the additional prize, the drawing of a name
or names, or the awarding of a prize.
(Emphasis added.)
34 T.A.C. 53.562(b). The emergency rule also defines
"present at a bingo occasion and participating in a bingo
game" as being "present at or participating in any
activity at the bingo location during licensed times of a
bingo occasion.11 34 T.A.C. 93.562(a)(2).
The rule states that the prohibition on door prizes
includes "any activity durina licensed times in connection
with the offering or awarding of [door] prizes."
(Emphasis added.) Neither the statute nor the rules
define "licensed times." See art. 179d, 518 (bingo game
may not exceed four hours in a 24-hour period): see also
art. 179d, 812d. However, the phrase "during licensed
times of a bingo occasion11 suggests that "licensed times"
is intended to be less inclusive than the phrase "bingo
occasionl: and that the Comptroller considers there to be
'unlicensed times" during a "bingo occasion.H Therefore,
it has been suggested that the Comptroller's rule would
allow door prizes to be offered or awarded during
llunlicensed times" of bingo occasions. We think that the
Comptroller's rule is ambiguous, but if the rule is
interpreted to mean that door prizes may be awarded at any
time during a "bingo occasion," it would be invalid.
p. 4084
Honorable Lloyd Criss - Page 5 (JM-844)
SUMMARY
The word "occasionn in article 179d,
V.T.C.S., means a gathering for the purpose
of playing bingo. The time of a bingo
occasion includes times before, during,
between, and after bingo games. The thirty-
minute intermission between "gamest1 required
by section 18 of article 179d, V.T.C.S.,
does not necessarily create an intermission
between "occasions."
JIM MATTOX
Attorney General of Texas
MARYKELLER
Executive Assistant Attorney General
JUDGE ZOLLIE STEAKLEY
Special Assistant Attorney General
RICK GILPIN
Chairman, Opinion Committee
Prepared by Sarah Woelk
Assistant Attorney General
,,-.
p. 4085