San Joaquin County Municipal Code Ch. 3 Mechanical Amusement Devices

(a) Amusement Machine means any machine or mechanical apparatus or device designed or intended to be operated or used only for amusement purposes in playing a game or any other form of entertainment, including but not being limited to machines commonly known as "ray-o-lite machines", "ray-o-lite guns", "iron claw machines", shuffleboards, and shuffleboard alleys, and including similar amusement devices, but excluding musical or radio or television machines designed for the furnishing of music or other entertainment.

All of the foregoing are deemed to be mechanical amusement devices.

(b) No license issued under the provisions of this chapter shall be transferable.

(c) A year for the purpose of this chapter shall be the calendar year beginning January 1st and ending December 31st, and any portion thereof shall be deemed a full year. Licenses must be renewed on or before January 1st each year.

(d) Distributor means any person renting or placing on consignment or commission basis with any operator any amusement machine.

(e) Operator means any person maintaining possession of or having in or about his premises any amusement machine.

(Ord. 644)

This chapter shall not apply to any vending machine so operated as to sell or deliver merchandise only the equivalent in marketing value to the value of the coin or coins deposited, without the payment or delivery or the promise of payment or delivery of anything except the merchandise therein kept for sale.

(Ord. 496)

Nothing in this chapter is intended or is to be construed as permitting the licensing, keeping, or possession of any mechanical games, machines, or devices, the possession or keeping of which is prohibited by the laws of the State.

(Ord. 496)

No person shall install, operate, or cause to be installed or operated any amusement machine without having first obtained a license as herein provided. No person shall operate any amusement machine which has not been licensed as herein provided. No operator shall maintain possession of any amusement machine within three hundred (300) feet, measured in a straight line from the nearest point in the exterior boundary, of any public school premises or church.

(Ord. 496)

Applications for licenses shall be in writing, signed by the applicant and giving his business address, business or occupation, age, citizenship, and other information that may be required by the Sheriff. The Sheriff shall require each applicant to obtain the signatures and recommendations of fifteen (15) registered voters of the County residing in the vicinity of the proposed location, and may also require the fingerprinting and Bertillion record of each applicant. Applications for licenses shall be filed with the County Tax Collector with the deposit of license fee. No license shall be issued until the application shall have been referred to the Sheriff for investigation. Within a reasonable time the Sheriff shall investigate and file a report upon the application designating whether or not the applicant is a proper person to be granted the license applied for. If the report is favorable, the Tax Collector shall issue the license. In case of denial, an applicant may appeal to the Board of Supervisors, whose decision shall be final.

(Ord. 496)

The Board of Supervisors may suspend for a limited period or may revoke the license issued pursuant to the terms or provisions of this chapter upon evidence that the person holding the license has been convicted of any violation of this chapter or laws of the State of California relating to any business for which a license is required by this chapter, or Section 330-a of the Penal Code. Whenever a license is suspended under the terms or provisions of this section an application may be made for renewal of the license after, but not before, the expiration of sixty (60) days from the date of the suspension. Whenever a license is revoked under the provisions of this section, an application may be made for a license provided for by this chapter after, but not before, the expiration of a period of one (1) year from the date of the revocation.

(Ord. 496)

(a) Distributor or Operator: The license fee to act as a distributor or operator shall be as follows:

(1) TWENTY-FIVE DOLLARS ($25.00) per annum payable annually in advance for each mechanical amusement device wherein the value of the coin or slug to be inserted exceeds five cents (5¢) for a single play.

(2) FIFTEEN DOLLARS ($15.00) per annum payable annually in advance for each mechanical amusement device where the value of the coin or slug to be inserted does not exceed five cents (5¢) for a single play.

(3) The operator's or distributor's license fee for "crane", "claw", or "grab" machines only shall be TWO HUNDRED FIFTY DOLLARS ($250.00) per annum, or any fraction of a calendar year, payable in advance. In addition a license fee of FIFTY DOLLARS ($50.00) per annum or any fraction thereof per machine shall be payable in advance without pro-rata. Upon each machine there shall be displayed conspicuously the permit or license card showing that the license fee on that particular machine has been paid. Failure to display this permit will obligate the owner of the machine and the owner of the location where the machine is operated to pay to the County FIFTY DOLLARS ($50.00) penalty for each failure within ten (10) days of the notification of the failure by the Business License Collector. Failure to pay the sum will be sufficient grounds for forfeiture of the machine and cancellation or suspension of all licenses issued to the owner of the machine or the operator of the location where the machine is placed for amusement machines by the County.

(b) Each machine licensed hereunder shall be licensed separately and shall have placed thereon a serial number in a conspicuous place. The licensee hereunder shall file with the Business License Collector a complete list of all machines owned by him or under his control or possession. The list shall contain the following information:

Name of the owner and licensee;

Address of the owner and licensee;

Kind of machine and its serial number; and

Location where the machine is to be operated.

This list must bear the approval of the Sheriff before the license can be issued.

(c) A license sticker issued by the Tax Collector shall be attached to and plainly visible on each mechanical amusement device at all times showing the expiration date of the license and that the license fee on each machine has been paid.

(d) Operator's location license: An operator of a "crane", "claw", or "grab" machine shall also pay a location license of FIVE DOLLARS ($5.00) per annum in advance. The operator's location license shall be plainly visible to the public in the vicinity of the cashier or main cash register of the location where the machine or machines are located.

(Ord. 594)

Every distributor to whom a license has been issued under the provisions of this chapter shall make a quarterly report to the County Tax Collector on forms obtained from the Tax Collector for that purpose, and shall keep a list of all machines and operators supplied by him, together with other information that the Tax Collector may require.

(Ord. 496)

No operator shall permit any person under the age of twenty-one (21) years to operate an amusement machine.

(Ord. 496)