San Jose Municipal Code Part 5 Key Employee License

Editor's note— Ord. 30616, adopted June 29, 2021, repealed § 16.32.600, which pertained to provisional key employee licenses and derived from Ord. 28517.

A. No person shall hold a Key Employee position in any Permitted Cardroom without a valid Key Employee License, except for persons allowed to receive a provisional Key Employee License or a temporary Key Employee License under the provisions of this Chapter.

B. Every Key Employee shall hold a temporary Key Employee License or a Key Employee License issued by the City prior to beginning employment as a Key Employee for a Cardroom Permittee.

C. A Cardroom Permittee shall be obligated to implement and comply with a system of internal controls that reasonably ensures compliance with Key Employee license, work permit and work registration requirements of this Title.

D. Licenses issued to Key Employees shall be for specified positions only. The position specified on a Key Employee License may be amended only through the procedure set forth in Section 16.32.640.

E. A Key Employee Licensee may be employed in the identical position for which the license was issued at another Permitted Cardroom, provided the Key Employee terminates employment with the Permitted Cardroom for which the license issued before commencing employment with the other. Ten (10) Business Days prior to commencing employment with the new establishment, the Key Employee shall file a statement on a form prescribed by the Administrator with the Division of Gaming Control, setting forth the last date of employment with the former employer and the anticipated commencement of employment with the new employer. The license shall continue with the terms and conditions as originally issued.

F. No person may be issued a Key Employee License unless the person would qualify for a stock ownership license.

(Ords. 28517, 29039, 30616.)

A. Only a Key Employee shall perform the following functions:

1. Hire or terminate a Gambling Enterprise Employee;

2. Exercise final authority on any shift to enforce management policy relating to Gaming Operations;

3. Exercise final authority on any shift to settle a dispute arising at a Card Table;

4. Approve or change a patron's check cashing limits;

5. Authorize the reduction of debts owed to the Cardroom Permittee; and

6. Direct the cashiers' cage, compliance, finance, information technology, security, surveillance, or table operations departments or the functional equivalents of those departments.

(Ords. 28517, 30616.)

A. The Administrator may issue to an Applicant for a Key Employee License a temporary Key Employee License after the Applicant has presented a Complete Application The Administrator shall provide an initial decision whether or not to issue a temporary Key Employee License no later than fifteen Business Days after the Administrator receives a Complete Application and the criminal history return from the California Department of Justice.

B. Notwithstanding Subsection A., the Administrator shall issue an Applicant for a Key Employee License a temporary Key Employee License within five (5) Business Days after an Applicant presents to the Administrator a Complete Application accompanied by documentation evidencing that the Commission has issued an interim key employee license to the Applicant.

C. The Administrator may place such conditions and limitations on a temporary Key Employee License as the Administrator may deem necessary, consistent with the public interest and the policies of this Title, including but not limited to placing time limits on the term of a temporary Key Employee License. The temporary Key Employee License shall automatically terminate when any of the following events occur:

1. An application is withdrawn, either with or without prejudice;

2. The interim state Key Employee License expires, is withdrawn or revoked;

3. The Chief of Police denies the Application

4. The Applicant is issued a Key Employee License in accordance with this Chapter.

D. The temporary Key Employee License is a temporary privilege and creates no continuing right. The Chief of Police shall have the discretion to revoke the temporary Key Employee License at any time. If the Administrator recommends that the Chief of Police should revoke the temporary Key Employee License, the Administrator shall provide advance notice and an opportunity for an informal administrative review for the holder of the temporary Key Employee License as set out in Section 16.32.630, without any further right of administrative appeal as to the revocation of such temporary Key Employee License.

E. Each recipient of a temporary Key Employee License shall provide a written acknowledgment on a form prescribed by the Administrator that no procedural or substantive rights or privileges are conferred by a temporary Key Employee License, without prejudice to his or her procedural rights under this Title for the denial of the application for the license and for the revocation of a temporary license. Any processes under this Section are voluntary and do not confer any legal rights or other legal interest to the holder of a temporary Key Employee License. Without such acknowledgment, the Administrator has no discretion to issue a temporary Key Employee License.

(Ords. 28517, 29039, 30616.)

A. In the event the Administrator recommends to the Chief of Police revocation of a temporary Key Employee License, the Administrator shall serve upon the Licensee and the Cardroom Permittee a notice of revocation, stating the reasons for the revocation. The Employee shall be given five (5) Business Days from the date of mailing of the notice of revocation to request an informal administrative review hearing with a hearing officer designated by the Chief of Police in order to give the Licensee the opportunity to clear his or her name prior to imposition of the revocation. The Employee shall be deemed to have waived the administrative review proceeding if the Administrator does not receive the Employee's written request for an administrative review hearing within five (5) Business Days of the date of service of the notice of revocation. If the Administrator does not receive the Employee's written request for an administrative review hearing within five (5) Business Days of the date of service of the notice of revocation, the notice shall become the final decision of the Chief of Police and the License shall terminate automatically.

B. The Administrator shall schedule the administrative review hearing within a reasonable period of time after receipt of the written request from the Employee. The hearing shall be conducted by the Chief of Police in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 16.36.

C. At the administrative review hearing, the Employee may be represented by legal counsel and shall have a reasonable opportunity to respond to the charges in order to clear his or her name and to seek to have the revocation reversed or modified. Although the attorney representing the Employee may be present at the administrative review meeting, there shall be no right to discovery or to cross-examine witnesses.

D. Technical rules relating to evidence and witnesses shall not apply. Any relevant evidence which is not unduly repetitious, including hearsay evidence, may be admitted into the record and considered, and is sufficient in itself to support a finding, if it is the sort of evidence on which responsible persons are accustomed to rely in the conduct of serious affairs, regardless of the existence of any common law or statutory rule that might make improper the admission of that evidence over objection in a civil action.

E. The hearing officer shall have the authority to control the conduct of the proceeding, including the ability to limit testimony and the admissibility of evidence that is unduly repetitious and make any other rulings or place other limitations on the administrative hearing consistent with the informal nature of the proceeding.

F. The written decision of the hearing officer upholding, reversing or modifying the revocation shall be served upon the Employee within a reasonable period of time after the close of the administrative review hearing.

G. A modification of the termination decision may include any or all of the following: a suspension of the temporary Key Employee License for a period of time; the addition of restrictive limitations and conditions on the temporary Key Employee License; issuance of a letter of reprimand or other disciplinary penalty.

H. The written decision of the hearing officer shall be final and shall contain a notice setting out the provisions contained in Section 1.16.010 of this Code.

(Ords. 29039, 30616.)

A Key Employee may apply to amend his or her City Key Employee License to hold a new or additional Key Employee position at the same Permitted Cardroom. The Administrator shall make a recommendation to the chief of police regarding the licensing application, including any additional or amended limitations and conditions. Upon approval, the license shall be amended to reflect the new or additional Key Employee position, including any additional or amended limitations and conditions, but otherwise continue with all other terms and conditions as originally issued. The licensing procedures set forth in Part 1 of Chapter 16.32 shall govern the application for, approval, denial, and appeal of any license amendment under this Section, except as specifically provided in this Section.

(Ords. 29039, 30616.)