(1) The secretary of state is hereby designated as the "licensing authority" of this part 6. As licensing authority, the secretary of state's powers and duties are as follows: (a) (I) To grant or refuse to grant bingo-raffle licenses under this part 6 and to grant or refuse to grant licenses to landlords, manufacturers, manufacturers' agents, suppliers, and suppliers' agents. If any such license application has not been approved or disapproved within forty-five days after the licensing authority has received all information that constitutes a complete application, the license shall be deemed to be approved. The licensing authority shall notify the applicant upon receipt of all information that the licensing authority deems a complete application. Such notification shall be the start of the forty-five-day period in which the licensing authority shall affirmatively act upon the application. The licensing authority's failure to act upon an application within forty-five days after receipt shall not preclude the licensing authority from later filing a complaint challenging the application on the ground that it is in conflict with the Colorado constitution or this part 6. All such licenses and applications for such licenses shall be made available for inspection by the public. In addition, the licensing authority has the power and the responsibility, after investigation and hearing before an administrative law judge, to suspend or revoke any license issued by the licensing authority, in accordance with any order of such administrative law judge. When a license is ordered suspended or revoked, the licensee shall surrender the license to the licensing authority on or before the effective date of the suspension or revocation. No license is valid beyond the effective date of the suspension or revocation, whether surrendered or not. Any bingo-raffle license may be temporarily suspended for a period not to exceed ten days pending any prosecution, investigation, or public hearing. (II) The licensing authority may impose a reasonable fine for any violation of this part 6 or any rule adopted pursuant to this part 6, not to exceed two hundred fifty dollars per citation. The imposition of any such fine may be appealed to an administrative law judge. (III) An applicant may request administrative review of a refusal by the licensing authority to grant or renew a license in accordance with subsection (3) of this section. To be entitled to administrative review, the applicant must request the review in writing within sixty days after the date of the licensing authority's refusal. (IV) If a licensee or bingo-raffle affiliate fails within forty-five days after a written request by the licensing authority to voluntarily produce records at the office of the licensing authority, or if a licensee fails to file a report within the time required by this part 6, or if such report is not properly verified or is not fully, accurately, and truthfully completed on its face, the licensing authority may refuse to renew the licensee's license until the licensee has corrected such failure or deficiency. If the licensing authority refuses to renew a license pursuant to this subsection (1)(a)(IV), the licensee shall not engage in activity authorized by such license until such license is renewed. (b) To supervise the administration and enforcement of this part 6 and to adopt, amend, and repeal rules governing the holding, operating, and conducting of games of chance, the purchase of equipment, the establishment of a schedule of reasonable fines, not to exceed two hundred fifty dollars per citation, for violation by licensees of this part 6 or of rules adopted pursuant to this part 6, to the end that games of chance shall be held, operated, and conducted only by licensees for the purposes and in conformity with the state constitution and the provisions of this part 6; (c) To provide forms for and supervise the filing of any reports made by mail, computer, electronic mail, or any other electronic device by any licensee. As soon as possible after July 1, 2006, the licensing authority shall ensure that delivery of a document subject to this part 6 by an applicant or a licensee may be accomplished electronically without the necessity for presentation of a physical original document, report, or image, if all required information is included and is readily retrievable from the data transmitted. The licensing authority may, by rule, require certain organizations to file reports and other documents electronically. All electronically filed documents shall be stored by the licensing authority in an electronic or other medium and shall be retrievable by the licensing authority in an understandable and readable form. Notwithstanding any other provision of law requiring the signature of, or execution by, a person on a document, no such signature shall be required when the document is submitted electronically. Causing a document to be delivered to the licensing authority by an applicant or a licensee shall constitute the affirmation or acknowledgment of the individual causing the delivery, under penalty of perjury, that the document is the individual's act and deed or the act and deed of the organization or entity on whose behalf the document was delivered and that the facts stated in the document are true. (d) Upon application by any licensee, to issue a letter ruling granting approval for any new concept, method, technology, practice, or procedure that may be applied to, or used in the conduct of, games of chance that are not in conflict with the constitution or this part 6. Application for such approval shall be submitted in a form prescribed by the licensing authority. If an application is not acted upon within forty-five days after receipt by the licensing authority, the licensee may implement such concept, method, technology, practice, or procedure so long as it is not in conflict with the constitution or this part 6; except that the licensing authority's failure to act upon an application within forty-five days after receipt shall not preclude the licensing authority from later filing a complaint challenging such concept, method, technology, practice, or procedure on the ground that it is in conflict with the constitution or this part 6. An adverse ruling on such application may be appealed to an administrative law judge. (e) To keep records of all actions and transactions relating to licensing and enforcement activity; (f) To prepare and transmit annually, in the form and manner prescribed by the heads of the principal departments pursuant to section 24-1-136, a report accounting to the governor for the efficient discharge of all responsibilities assigned by law or directive to the authority, and to issue publications of the authority intended for circulation in quantity outside the executive branch in accordance with section 24-1-136; (g) To license devices for reading pull tabs as provided in section 24-21-619; except that the licensing authority shall not impose or collect any fee for the issuance of such a license. (2) For the purpose of any investigation or examination of records, the licensing authority or any officer designated by the licensing authority may require, at the office of the licensing authority, the production of any books, papers, correspondence, memoranda, agreements, or other documents or records that the licensing authority deems relevant or material to the inquiry. In case of refusal to obey a request for the production of documents issued to any licensee or an affiliate of a licensee, the district court of the city and county of Denver, upon application by the licensing authority, may issue an order requiring that person to appear before the licensing authority or the officer designated by the licensing authority to produce documents or to give evidence touching upon the matter under investigation or in question. Failure to obey the order of the court may be punished by the court as a contempt of court. (3) The licensing authority may revoke, suspend, annul, limit, modify, or refuse to grant or renew a license in accordance with section 24-4-104. Hearings that are held to administratively review the licensing authority's decision to refuse to grant or renew a license or to determine whether a licensee's license should be revoked, suspended, annulled, limited, or modified shall be conducted by an administrative law judge appointed pursuant to part 10 of article 30 of this title 24 and shall be held in the manner and pursuant to the rules and procedures described in sections 24-4-104, 24-4-105, and 24-4-106. An administrative law judge shall hold and conclude hearings in accordance with the rules, with reasonable dispatch and without unnecessary delay, and shall issue a decision within ten days after the hearing. (4) (a) Upon a finding by an administrative law judge of a violation of this part 6, the rules adopted pursuant to this part 6, or any other provision of law, such as would warrant the revocation, suspension, annulment, limitation, or modification of a license, in addition to any other penalties that may be imposed, the licensing authority may declare the violator ineligible to conduct a game of bingo and to apply for a license pursuant to this part 6 for a period not exceeding one year after the date of the declaration or a shorter period designated by the licensing authority pursuant to this subsection (4). The licensing authority shall designate a shorter period of license ineligibility only in the absence of aggravating factors associated with the violation for which the revocation was imposed. Aggravating factors include willfulness, intent, a previous intentional violation of this part 6, and violations involving theft or fraud. The declaration of ineligibility may be extended to include, in addition to the violator, any of its subsidiary organizations, its parent organization, or otherwise, affiliated with the violator when, in the opinion of the licensing authority, the circumstances of the violation warrant such action. (b) The decision of the administrative law judge in any controversy concerning licensing, the imposition of a fine, or the approval of any proposed new concept, method, technology, practice, or procedure is final and subject to review by the court of appeals, pursuant to section 24-4-106 (11). (5) Upon an administrative or judicial finding of a violation of this part 6, the rules adopted pursuant to this part 6, or any other provision of law, such as would warrant the suspension or revocation of a license, the licensing authority, in addition to any other penalties that may be imposed, may issue an order excluding the violator or any owner, officer, director, or games manager of the violator from the licensed premises during the conduct of games of chance.
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