5:12-71 Regulation requiring exclusion of certain persons.

71. Regulation Requiring Exclusion of Certain Persons. a. The division shall, by regulation, provide for the establishment of a list of persons who are to be excluded or ejected from any licensed casino establishment. Such provisions shall define the standards for exclusion, and shall include standards relating to persons:

(1) Who are career or professional offenders as defined by regulations promulgated hereunder;

(2) Who have been convicted of a criminal offense under the laws of any state or of the United States, which is punishable by more than six months in prison, or any crime or offense involving moral turpitude; or

(3) Whose presence in a licensed casino hotel would, in the opinion of the director, be inimical to the interest of the State of New Jersey or of licensed gaming therein, or both.

The division shall promulgate definitions establishing those categories of persons who shall be excluded pursuant to this section, including cheats and persons whose privileges for licensure or registration have been revoked.

b. Race, color, creed, national origin or ancestry, or sex shall not be a reason for placing the name of any person upon such list.

c. The division may impose sanctions upon a licensed casino or individual licensee or registrant in accordance with the provisions of this act if such casino or individual licensee or registrant knowingly fails to exclude or eject from the premises of any licensed casino any person placed by the division on the list of persons to be excluded or ejected.

d. Any list compiled by the division of persons to be excluded or ejected shall not be deemed an all-inclusive list, and licensed casino establishments shall have a duty to keep from their premises persons known to them to be within the classifications declared in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection a. of this section and the regulations promulgated thereunder, or known to them to be persons whose presence in a licensed casino hotel would be inimical to the interest of the State of New Jersey or of licensed gaming therein, or both, as defined in standards established by the division.

e. Prior to placing the name of any person on a list pursuant to this section, the division shall serve notice of such fact to such person by personal service, by certified mail at the last known address of such person, or by publication daily for one week in a newspaper of general circulation in Atlantic City.

f. Within 30 days after service of the petition in accordance with subsection e. of this section, the person named for exclusion or ejection may demand a hearing before the director or the director's designee, at which hearing the director or the director's designee shall have the affirmative obligation to demonstrate by a preponderance of the evidence that the person named for exclusion or ejection satisfies the criteria for exclusion established by this section and the applicable regulations. Failure to demand such a hearing within 30 days after service shall be deemed an admission of all matters and facts alleged in the director's petition and shall preclude a person from having an administrative hearing, but shall in no way affect his or her right to judicial review as provided herein.

g. The division may make a preliminary placement on the list of a person named in a petition for exclusion or ejection pending completion of a hearing on the petition. The hearing on the application for preliminary placement shall be a limited proceeding at which the division shall have the affirmative obligation to demonstrate that there is a reasonable possibility that the person satisfies the criteria for exclusion established by this section and the applicable regulations. If a person has been placed on the list as a result of an application for preliminary placement, unless otherwise agreed by the director and the named person, a hearing on the petition for exclusion or ejection shall be initiated within 30 days after the receipt of a demand for such hearing or the date of preliminary placement on the list, whichever is later.

h. If, upon completion of the hearing on the petition for exclusion or ejection, the director determines that the person named therein does not satisfy the criteria for exclusion established by this section and the applicable regulations, the director shall issue an order denying the petition. If the person named in the petition for exclusion or ejection had been placed on the list as a result of an application for preliminary placement, the director shall notify all casino licensees of the person's removal from the list.

i. If, upon completion of a hearing on the petition for exclusion or ejection, the director determines that placement of the name of the person on the exclusion list is appropriate, the director shall make and enter an order to that effect, which order shall be served on all casino licensees. Such order shall be subject to review by the commission in accordance with regulations promulgated thereunder, which final decision shall be subject to review by the Superior Court in accordance with the rules of court.

L.1977, c.110, s.71; amended 1979, c.282, s.15; 1981, c.503, s.6; 1991, c.182, s.17; 1993, c.292, s.9; 2011, c.19, s.36.