CHAPTER 371

An Act to amend and reenact § 18.1-829, as amended, of the Code of Vir-
ginia, prohibiting the keeping or exhibiting of punch boards, slot ma-
chines or other machines, in which operation the element of chance 1s

involved.
(S 354]
Approved March 31, 1964

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That § 18.1-829, as amended, of the Code of Virginia, be amended and
reenacted as follows:

§ 18.1-329. If any person: . ;

(1) Keep or exhibit for sale or use, or be concerned in interest in
keeping or exhibiting for sale or use, any (a) punch board or similar de-
vice of any kind or description, (b) slot machine or similar device of any
kind or character, or (c) other device that operates on the nickel-in-the-
slot principle, in the operation of which any element of chance whatever
may enter, or through and from which it may be possible for one person
to get any article of more value than that which any other person could
or would get, or through and from which the article or thing vended is
not the fair equivalent in value to the coin required to operate such ma-
chine or device, *

(2) Permit any such punch board, slot machine or similar device to
be kept or exhibited for sale or use in his place of business or in any other
place in this State, or

(3) Nothing in this section or §§ 18.1-880 or 18.1-881 shall be con-
strued as conflicting with or repealing any ordinance or resolution of any
city having a population of more than one hundred thousand but less than
one hundred fourteen thousand, and of any city having a population of
more than eighty-nine thousand but less than ninety thousand, which
prohibits the keeping or exhibiting for sale or use, or being con-
cerned in interest in keeping or exhibiting for sale or use, or which
prohibits the permitting of any such punch boards, slot machine or
similar device to be kept or exhibited for sale or use in his place
of business or in any other place in said city, and (a) punch board
or similar device of any kind or description, (b) slot machine or similar
device of any kind or character or (c) other device that operates on the
nickel-in-the-slot principle, in the operation of which any element of chance
whatever may enter, when such punch board, slot machine, or other
device, is required by the federal government to have a gambling stamp
displayed thereon, notwithstanding the fact that such machine or device
returns to the user nothing more than additional chances or returns to
use such machine.

He shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and such punch board, slot ma-
chine or other device shall be deemed a gaming apparatus and shall be
embraced within the provisions of §§ 19.1-84, 19.1-86 and 19.1-87, insofar
as such sections relate to gaming apparatus.

The possession of any such punch board, slot machine or other
device shall be prima facie evidence of the exhibition for sale or use thereof.

Any slot machine or device that operates on the nickel-in-the-slot
principle and which does not uniformly return to the customer in each
transaction the equivalent in value and kind of merchandise unaccom-
panied by coins, trade checks or other items of monetary value that it
returned in each preceding transaction shall be deemed to embody the
element of chance within the meaning of this section, even though the
machine or device be so constructed as to indicate in advance of each
transaction what it will dispense upon the deposit of the next coin or
slug, provided that no machine or device which operates on the nickel-in-
the-slot principle and which returns to the user nothing more than ad-
ditional chances or rights to use such machine shall be deemed a punch
board, slot machine, similar device or other device within the meaning of
this section.

2. An emergency exists, and this act is in force from its passage.