PocketLaw | Georgia Code | Right to Notice and Hearing; Service of

Right to Notice and Hearing; Service of Notice; Establishment of Procedures; Prohibition on Assigning, Transferring or Selling by Master Licensee

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An applicant or licensee is entitled to at least 30 days' written notice and, if requested, a hearing in the following instances:
1. After an application for an original or renewal license has been refused;
2. Before the corporation may revoke a license; or
3. Before the corporation may invoke any other sanctions provided by this article. For purposes of this paragraph, sanctions shall not include:
  1. Issuance of a citation;
  2. Imposition of a late fee, penalty fee, or interest penalty under subsection (k) of Code Section 50-27-71, Code Section 50-27-80, or subsection (a) of Code Section 50-27-82; or
  3. Sealing a machine or imposing charges related thereto under subsection (f) of Code Section 50-27-82.
The written notice provided by this Code section may be served personally by the chief executive officer or an authorized representative of the corporation or sent by United States certified mail or statutory overnight delivery addressed to the applicant, licensee, or registration certificate holder at its last known address. In the event that notice cannot be effected by either of these methods after due diligence, the chief executive officer may prescribe any reasonable method of notice calculated to inform a person of average intelligence and prudence of the corporation's action, including publishing the notice in a newspaper of general circulation in the area in which the applicant, licensee, or registration certificate holder conducts its business activities. The written notice shall state with particularity the basis upon which the corporation is taking the proposed actions.
Subject to approval by the chief executive officer and corporation, the Bona Fide Coin Operated Amusement Machine Operator Advisory Board shall establish a procedure for hearings required by this article. Such procedure shall empower the chief executive officer with the authority to delegate or appoint any person or public agency to preside over the hearing and adjudicate the appeal, and the chief executive officer shall identify the party responsible for entering a final decision for the corporation.
At the time that a master licensee receives notice of a potential revocation of its master license as provided in this Code section, the master licensee shall be prohibited from assigning, selling, or otherwise transferring any of its contracts with location owners or location operators to any other master licensee or other person, and such prohibition shall remain in effect unless or until a final decision, not subject to further appeal, is rendered which does not result in the revocation of the master license. After a master license is revoked by final order and no other appeals are available, any contracts between a master licensee and a location owner or location operator for the providing of bona fide coin operated amusement machines shall be null and void. Nothing in this subsection shall prevent a location owner or location operator from exercising any contractual right to place machines of another master licensee in such location.

(Code 1981, §48-17-5, enacted by Ga. L. 1992, p. 1521, § 3; Ga. L. 1998, p. 563, § 3; Ga. L. 2000, p. 1589, § 3; Ga. L. 2002, p. 415, § 48; Code 1981, §50-27-74, as redesignated by Ga. L. 2013, p. 37, § 1-1/HB 487; Ga. L. 2016, p. 762, § 1/SB 388.)

The 2013 amendment, effective April 10, 2013, redesignated former Code Section 48-17-5 as present Code Section 50-27-74; substituted "corporation" or "chief executive officer" for "commissioner" throughout this Code section; substituted "article" for "chapter" at the end of the first sentence in paragraph (a)(3); substituted "Code Section 50-27-71, Code Section 50-27-80, or subsection (a) of Code Section 50-27-82" for "Code Section 48-17-2, Code Section 48-17-11, or subsection (a) of Code Section 48-17-13" in subparagraph (a)(3)(B); substituted "subsection (f) of Code Section 50-27-82" for "subsection (g) of Code Section 48-17-13" in subparagraph (a)(3)(C); in subsection (b), inserted "of the corporation" in the first sentence, and substituted "corporation's" for "commissioner's" in the next to last sentence; and added subsection (c).

The 2016 amendment, effective May 3, 2016, added subsection (d).

Editor's notes.

- Ga. L. 2000, p. 1589, § 16, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that that Act shall apply with respect to notices delivered on or after July 1, 2000.

Ga. L. 2013, p. 37, § 3-1/HB 487, not codified by the General Assembly, provides, in part, that: "(b) If any section of this Act is determined to be unconstitutional by a final decision of an appellate court of competent jurisdiction or by the trial court of competent jurisdiction if no appeal is made, with the exception of subsection (g) of Code Section 50-27-78 and Section 2-1 of this Act, this Act shall stand repealed by operation of law.

"(c) This Act is not intended to and shall not be construed to affect the legality of the repair, transport, possession, or use of otherwise prohibited gambling devices on maritime vessels within the jurisdiction of the State of Georgia. To the extent that such repair, transport, possession, or use was lawful prior to the enactment of this Act, it shall not be made illegal by this Act; and to the extent that such repair, transport, possession, or use was prohibited prior to the enactment of this Act, it shall remain prohibited." As of July 2020, no such decision has been issued.

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Intra-agency appeal procedure must be followed.

- Licensee's appeal was properly dismissed for failing to exhaust the required administrative remedy available as the Georgia Lottery Commission rules required that affected persons must exhaust the intra-agency appeal procedure, and the failure to do so operated as a waiver of the person's appeal rights. Amazing Amusements Group, Inc. v. Wilson, 353 Ga. App. 256, 835 S.E.2d 781 (2019).

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