SECOND REGULAR SESSION
SENATE BILL NO. 913
90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR EHLMANN.
Read 1st time January 26, 2000, and 1,000 copies ordered printed.
TERRY L. SPIELER, Secretary.
4188S.02I
AN ACT
To repeal section 578.395, RSMo 1994, relating to ticket scalping, and to enact in lieu thereof one new section relating to the same subject.
Section A. Section 578.395, RSMo 1994, is repealed and one new section enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as section 578.395, to read as follows:
578.395. 1. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 5 of this section, any person, firm, or corporation who resells or offers to resell any ticket for admission, or any other evidence of the right of entry, to any public sporting event for a price in excess of the price printed on the ticket is guilty of the offense of ticket scalping. For purposes of this section, if a seller requires, as a precondition of the resale of a ticket, the purchase or rental of other goods or services at a price in excess of the fair market value of such goods or services, the excess amount shall be deemed to be part of the purchase price of the ticket.
2. Nothing in this section shall prohibit nor shall be deemed to prohibit a seller, with consent of the sponsor of such sporting event, from collecting a reasonable service charge from a ticket purchaser in return for services actually rendered.
3. Any person violating this section upon conviction shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, except as provided in subsection 4 of this section, shall be punished as follows:
(1) For the first offense, by a fine of not less than fifty dollars nor more than three hundred dollars or by imprisonment in the county jail for a term of not less than fifteen days;
(2) For the second offense, by a fine of not less than three hundred dollars nor more than five hundred dollars or by imprisonment in the county jail for a term of not less than sixty days nor more than six months;
(3) For the third and each subsequent offense, by a fine of not less than five hundred dollars nor more than one thousand dollars or imprisonment in the county jail for a term of not less than six months nor more than one year.
4. In lieu of any fine imposed under subsection 3 of this section, the court may invoke the provisions of subsection 2 of section 560.016, RSMo, against any person convicted of a second or subsequent offense of this section.
5. Subsections 1 to 4 of this section do not apply to the sale of tickets of admission to a sporting event, theater, musical performance or place of public entertainment or amusement of any kind for a price in excess of the printed box office ticket price by a ticket broker if the ticket broker meets all of the following requirements:
(1) The ticket broker is in full compliance with any and all state and local business registration and licensing requirements;
(2) The ticket broker engages in the resale of tickets on a regular and ongoing basis from one or more permanent or fixed locations within this state and maintains as the principal business activity at those locations the resale of tickets;
(3) The ticket broker maintains at those locations a listing of the names and addresses of all persons employed by the ticket broker;
(4) The ticket broker is in compliance with all applicable federal, state and local laws relating to its ticket selling activities, and that neither the ticket broker nor any of its employees within the preceding twelve months have been convicted of a violation of this section;
(5) The ticket broker maintains the following minimum consumer protection measures including:
(a) Adoption of a code or standards of professional conduct;
(b) A toll free number for consumer complaints;
(c) A standard refund policy;
(d) A performance bond in an amount of one hundred thousand dollars; and
(e) Adoption of a procedure for the binding resolution of consumer complaints by an independent third party; and
(6) The ticket broker must comply with all requirements imposed by sections 144.010 to 144.525, RSMo.
6. The ticket broker and its employees must not engage in the practice of selling or attempting to sell tickets for any event while sitting or standing near the facility at which the event is to be held or is being held.
7. Any ticket broker shall be required to register and obtain a license with the secretary of state.
8. Any ticket broker registered pursuant to this section shall pay an annual registration fee of one hundred dollars and provide evidence of compliance with all requirements listed in subsection 5 of this section.
9. Such license shall be posted in a conspicuous location in the place of business of such ticket broker.
10. The provisions of this section shall supercede any county or municipal law or ordinance relating to prohibition of ticket scalping.
11. The secretary of state is authorized to develop and promulgate rules pursuant to the registration and licensing of such ticket brokers.
12. Any rule or portion of a rule, as that term is defined in section 536.010, RSMo, that is created under the authority delegated in this section shall become effective only if it complies with and is subject to all of the provisions of chapter 536, RSMo, and, if applicable, section 536.028, RSMo. This section and chapter 536, RSMo, are nonseverable and if any of the powers vested with the general assembly pursuant to chapter 536, RSMo, to review, to delay the effective date or to disapprove and annul a rule are subsequently held unconstitutional, then the grant of rulemaking authority and any rule proposed or adopted after August 28, 2000, shall be invalid and void.