Montana State Gambling Control Division
- Minnesota Gambling Control Board
- Montana State Gambling Control Division Bracket
- Montana State Gambling Control Division Regulation
- Montana State Gambling Control Division System
STATE OF MONTANA DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE GAMBLING CONTROL DIVISION GAMBLING LAWS and ADMINISTRATIVE RULES under DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE JURISDICTION 2550 Prospect Ave. P O Box 201424 Helena, MT (406) 444-1971 Updated January 31, 2017 Alternative accessible formats of this document will be provided upon request. Contact Montana Gambling Control Division customer service. You can call Montana Gambling Control Division at (406) 444-9130 phone number, write an email, fill out a contact form on their website dojmt.gov, or write a letter to Montana Gambling Control Division, 2550 Prospect Ave, Helena, Montana, 59601, United States. Write a review on Montana Gambling Control Division or ask a question.
(Editor’s note: Report by MTN’s John Riley)
HELENA – Proposed legislation was heard at the Capitol which would legalize sports gambling in the state of Montana.
On March 19 the Senate Business, Labor, and Economic Affairs Committee heard Senate Bill 330, the Montana Sports Betting Act.
Montana Gambling Control Division. State of Montana Department of Justice Gambling Control Division. The Gambling Control Division oversees the conduct of all gambling in Montana except horse racing betting and the state lottery. Sports Betting in Montana. Montana joined the legal sports betting fray in 2019 after Governor Steve Bullock signed into law a piece of legislation allowing the state lottery to host sports betting kiosks inside.
Bill sponsor Sen. Mark Blasdel, R-Kalispell, said sports betting in the state is already happening and needs to be regulated.
Minnesota Gambling Control Board
“This is already something that is happening with a lot of folks,” said Blasdel. “Unfortunately it’s in the black market now. This would set it up so you would have the Department of Justice overseeing it to try to track who’s operating these and collect some tax revenue off of it, as well.”
SB330 would require bettors to go through a state-authorized sportsbook operator or platform operator in order to make a sports bet.
Operators would need to be licensed through the Montana Department of Justice Gambling Control Division and would be under the same scrutiny as any vendor that currently offers gambling.
SB330 would only legalize betting on professional, collegiate and Olympic sports. Betting on high school or other unauthorized amateur sports would not be permitted.
Sports bets are allowed on mobile devices but can only be placed inside the premises of a licensed gambling activity within the state. Current language of the bill requires locations to employ geolocation technology to ensure the bets only happen in a licensed establishment.
While there were no direct opponents to SB330, some speakers at the hearing did express their concerns about the geolocation technology.
Lobbyists said the technology is too expensive and restrictive, arguing mobile sports betting should be allowed anywhere people have a phone.
John Iverson of the Montana Tavern Association stated sports betting needs to be kept to authorized locations. Iverson said by doing so it will help create economic opportunity for businesses.
“If you look at the total tax on this bill to the taverns, it’s not significant,” said Iverson. “If we pass this bill, it will give a boost in the arm to a lot of small towns across the state of Montana.”
Blasdel would also like to see sports betting stay in authorized gambling locations.
“Part of it is certainly the economic driver,” said Blasdel. “If not that, we want to make sure at least the bettors have to go in and put the money in their account in the taverns. That way you don’t have somebody sitting at home – they have to make that trip and can’t just keep betting.”
If SB330 does become law it would not take effect until June 1, 2020 to allow Gambling Control Division to be prepared for the new form of betting.
According to Gambling Control Division, before betting can take place staff will need to be trained on sports betting, sportsbook software will need to be tested and administrative rules will need to be drafted.
SB330 would create four new positions within Gambling Control Division. Those positions would be paid for by the taxes generated by statewide gambling.
Sports betting had previously been illegal nationwide until the United States Supreme Court, by a vote of 6-3, overturned the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act on May 14 of last year. That decision made it possible for individual states to create and regulate their own sports betting.
Fingerprint Cards
Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, it has become increasingly more difficult for applicants and customers of Alcoholic Beverage Control Division (ABCD)/Gambling Control Division (GCD) to have their fingerprints taken due to a large number of state and local agencies temporarily closing down their fingerprint operations.
Normally, two sets of fingerprint cards per person are required to be submitted to the Department with several types of applications. As an accommodation for our customers that cannot get fingerprints taken during this time, the ABCD/GCD will temporarily waive the requirement for fingerprint cards and will do a name-based background check to determine suitability until fingerprints can be obtained.
This applies to applications for:
- New Location Managers
- Non-Institutional Loans
- New Officers/Directors
- Alcohol and/or Gambling licenses
Montana State Gambling Control Division Bracket
The following information will continue to be required:
- Personal/Criminal History Statement (Form 10 or Form 10A)
- Any other forms and documents normally required with the submission
While fingerprint cards will not be required for current submissions, they will be required at a later date.
- ABCD/GCD will follow up with a request once normal operations have resumed.
- Upon request, two sets of fingerprint cards for each person much be submitted within 30 days along with the $30 processing fee per person.
Financing Guidelines
We recognize that licensees may need to infuse extra funds into their business. It is our responsibility to ensure that financing for a licensed operation is not from an unsuitable source but in these times will implement a streamlined approach to speed up the review process.
- As a reminder, institutional loans (bank loans) do not require prior approval. Notification that a licensee has obtained a bank loan is only required with the license renewal submission.
- Non-institutional loans (non-bank loans) must have prior approval. In order to speed up the review process, please follow these guidelines:
- Submit online.
- Log into TAP and submit your request or send documents to Stacy Rogstad (srogstad@mt.gov) via File Transfer (transfer.mt.gov). Fax or mail may not be processed as quickly as an online submission.
- Supply all required documents. Before ABCD/GCD can conduct their review, an application must be complete. The following are required:
- Non-institutional Loan (Form 13)
- Personal/Criminal History Statement (Form 10 or Form 10A) for each person providing funding
- Loan agreement and/or promissory note
- Amortization schedule and/or other applicable contracts or documents
- Source of funding for the loan (e.g. 6 months of bank statements)
- As noted in the above section, the requirement for fingerprint cards will temporarily be waived.
- Submit online.
- Financing application submissions will be given priority during this time and will be processed as quickly as possible.
Faced with a cash flow crisis caused by mandatory closures due to COVID-19, we recognize that licensees may need a reprieve from certain debt payments or may need to make emergency loan modifications.
- As an accommodation during this time, ABCD/GCD will allow debt holders (landlords, lenders, etc.) to provide temporary reprieve from payments normally required by law and rule. Bone fide emergency loan or lease agreement modifications will not be considered an improper NIL or undisclosed ownership interest.
- Any agreements between the licensee and the debt holder to defer or forgive payments or change terms must be documented. The documentation should include details of the modification such as:
- Interest rate adjustment
- Monthly payment adjustment
- Monthly payment “holidays,” or forgiveness
- Change in the loan terms
- Timeframe for the modification (i.e. temporary or through the term)
- Other accommodations
- Documentation should be submitted to the Department no later than with licensees’ annual license renewal application, due June 30th.
Key Personnel Changes
We recognize licensees are faced with making difficult staffing decisions during this time. Administrative rule requires any change in location managers, officers, or directors must be reported to the department within 30 days of the date of the change. As an accommodation, we will not enforce 30-day notification of removal of any key staff during this time period and will allow for a reasonable timeframe for notification of new key staff.
- The license renewal application form (due June 30th) requires disclosure of any changes to managers, officers, and directors. Please ensure all changes are reported at that time (or before).
Questions? Contact Gambling Control Division at (406) 444-1971.
Please Note:
Montana State Gambling Control Division Regulation
These temporary modifications are in place until further notice (at which time all processes will revert to standard procedures in accordance with statute and rule).
Montana State Gambling Control Division System
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