The Akron Legal News

Proposed legislation would add quarter auctions to Ohio gambling law

TIFFANY L. PARKS
Special to the Legal News
Published: May 13, 2014

Senate Bill 213 would define a “quarter auction” under the state’s gambling law as a type of bingo and permit a charitable organization to conduct a such a not-for-profit event without having a bingo license.

“This bill would clarify in Ohio law that quarter auctions are legal for nonprofit organizations to operate. The attorney general’s office has determined that today they are not permitted by law,” said Sen. Randy Gardner, R-Bowling Green.

Under the proposed legislation, a “quarter auction” means a form of bingo in which one or more prizes are won by one or more persons who have given valuable consideration for a chance to win a prize by purchasing one or more numbered bid paddles that correspond to the same numbered chip or token that is placed in a receptacle.

The one or more winners of the quarter auction are determined by selecting a chip or token from the receptacle and matching the number of the selected chip or token to a numbered bid paddle held up by a person before the selection of the chip or token.

After doing some research on quarter auctions, Gardner said he determined they are a positive activity that can help both nonprofit charities in Ohio and small businesses which support these events as a means to promote their products or services at a public event.

“Organizations such as the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the Pemberville Historical Society, the Freedom Post Ladies Auxiliary and a number of other civic-minded groups have benefited from quarter auctions,” he said.

“When members of these organizations learned that this kind of event might not be permitted or was in question, they decided to make sure quarter auctions could be utilized in Ohio to help non-profits raise funds. They contacted me to sponsor legislation and I agreed to do so.”

SB 213 would require a charitable organization that conducts a quarter auction to maintain certain records for three years after the date of the auction.

Gardner said the attorney general’s office has indicated that it is not opposed to SB 213.

A statement from John Murphy of the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association offered support for the as-introduced version of the bill.

“We understand that only the charitable organization could conduct the quarter auction, and only to raise money for that charity, and not for a profit,” he said. “As long as those conditions are met, we believe this is an appropriate activity to support charities and support the bill for that purpose.”

Julie Price, a small-business owner and one of the organizers of Quarter Frenzy, a Pemberville-based organization, has pushed for lawmakers to move the bill forward.

“The quarter auction events benefit nonprofits with the money they raise. For a few hours of work and some time spent in spreading the word about the event, the nonprofits raise anywhere from $500 to $2,000 in one evening,” she said. “While this is not a huge sum of money, it is truly money the charities can and do use to further their respective causes.”

SB 213 is before the Senate State Government Oversight and Reform committee.

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