Section 2. Lotteries prohibited – exceptions.
(1) The general
assembly shall have no power to authorize lotteries for any purpose; except
that the conducting of such games of chance as provided in subsections (2) to
(4) of this section shall be lawful on and after January 1, 1959, and the
conducting of state-supervised lotteries pursuant to subsection (7) of this
section shall be lawful on and after January 1, 1981.
(2) No game of chance pursuant to
this subsection (2) and subsections (3) and (4) of this section shall be
conducted by any person, firm, or organization, unless a license as provided
for in this subsection (2) has been issued to the firm or organization
conducting such games of chance. The secretary of state shall, upon application
therefor on such forms as shall be prescribed by the secretary of state and
upon the payment of an annual fee as determined by the general assembly, issue
a license for the conducting of such games of chance to any bona fide chartered
branch or lodge or chapter of a national or state organization or to any bona
fide religious, charitable, labor, fraternal, educational, voluntary firemen's
or veterans' organization which operates without profit to its members and
which has been in existence continuously for a period of five years immediately
prior to the making of said application for such license and has had during the
entire five-year period a dues-paying membership engaged in carrying out the
objects of said corporation or organization, such license to expire at the end
of each calendar year in which it was issued.
(3) The license issued by the
secretary of state shall authorize and permit the licensee to conduct games of
chance, restricted to the selling of rights to participate and the awarding of
prizes in the specific kind of game of chance commonly known as bingo or lotto,
in which prizes are awarded on the basis of designated numbers or symbols on a
card conforming to numbers or symbols selected at random and in the specific game of chance commonly known as raffles, conducted by the drawing of prizes or
by the allotment of prizes by chance.
(4) Such games of chance shall be
subject to the following restrictions:
(a) The entire net proceeds of any
game shall be exclusively devoted to the lawful purposes of organizations
permitted to conduct such games.
(b) No person except a bona fide
member of any organization may participate in the management or operation of
any such game.
(c) No person may receive any
remuneration or profit for participating in the management or operation of any
such game.
(5) Subsections (2) to (4) of this
section are self-enacting, but laws may be enacted supplementary to and in
pursuance of, but not contrary to, the provisions thereof.
(6) The enforcement of this section
shall be under such official or department of government of the state of
Colorado as the general assembly shall provide.
(7) Any provision of this
constitution to the contrary notwithstanding, the general assembly may
establish a state-supervised lottery. Unless otherwise provided by statute, all
proceeds from the lottery, after deduction of prizes and expenses, shall be
allocated to the conservation trust fund of the state for distribution to
municipalities and counties for park, recreation, and open space purposes.
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This is not an official copy of the Colorado Constitution. Please visit www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/colorado for the most current
version.
