HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES Administrative Committee 1991-11-25 AttachmentADMINISTRATIVE COMMITTEE -November 25,1991 -Attachment to Minutes
GAMBLING
in
Estes Park,Colorado
Legal Report of Town Attorney Gregory A.White
Having been requested to brief the Town Board on the legal requirements and
ramifications with regard to proposed limited gambling in Estes Park,
following is a brief history of current limited gambling in Colorado.
Pursuant to the State Constitution,gambling is illegal in Colorado.The
only way to provide for gambling within any portion of the State of Colorado
is through a constitutional amendment to the State Constitution.The only
exceptions to that are the lottery which was voter approved in the early
1980’s and,in 1989,individuals representing interests in Central City,
Black Hawk and Cripple Creek placed a constitutional amendment on the State
ballot for the 1990 election to allow limited gambling within certain areas
of those cities.The amendment passed and at present,there is limited
gambling in those cities.
There are two routes which can be followed:
1.The legislature can refer a constitutional amendment to the voters.
This takes a 2/3’s majority of the Senate and a 2/3’s majority of the House
to place on the ballot.As a point of information,by the constitution,the
legislature is restricted to a certain number of these amendments.
2.Citizen action placing an initiated measure on the ballot.The
procedure is as follows:
A.A draft of the amendment is sent to the legislative offices of
the State legislature to be reviewed by those offices to determine
whether the proposal is clear enough to proceed further.The
purpose of this action is to ensure that no proposal is placed in
front of the voters which isn’t specific enough for it to be
meaningful.If the legislative office passes on this and,it’s
merely a recommendation by that office,then it goes back to the
proponents,and they can proceed.
B.The proponents file a draft of the proposed constitutional
amendment with the Secretary of State.A committee comprised of
the Secretary of State,Attorney General and the Director of the
Legislative Drafting Office of the State House and Senate must
approve the draft,determine the title to the constitutional
amendment,(how it will appear on the ballot),and a summary of the
measure.
C.If the title and summary are approved,the proponents have six
months from the time it clears the process to obtain the required
number of signatures for placement on the ballot.It would take
49,279 signatures for placement on the 1992 general election
ballot.Signatures are then submitted to the Secretary of State
for verification.If the signatures are verified,the measure goes
on the ballot as written and is voted on at the next election.If
the measure passes,it is an amendment to the State Constitution
and,at that point,its provisions are mandated.
Could a vote against gambling by the Estes Park Town Board or a vote against
gambling by the public prevent a group from putting the name Estes Park on an
amendment that would subsequently go to the voters of the State of Colorado?
-NO.
If an amendment was approved by the voters in Colorado and there was no
clause in that particular amendment to require on a public referendum in
favor of it,then Estes Park could be mandated to have gambling,i.e.
Trinidad contains a specific provision that states before any gambling is
allowed in any jurisdiction that is named in that amendment,there must be a
local election approving it.