An increasing number of business owners in South Dakota are placing video lottery terminals in vented enclosures known as smoke shacks—but they’re doing it at their own risk, said South Dakota Lottery Executive Director Norm Lingle.
The lottery’s administrative policy allows smoking at a video lottery establishment in a non-enclosed area. In 2010 state voters approved a law banning smoking in public places, including gambling establishments, bars and restaurants. But the lottery defines a public place as “any space between a floor and a ceiling that is enclosed, exclusive of doorways, on all sides by permanent or temporary walls or windows.” The lottery does not consider smoke shacks to be public places if they have at least a strip of open space for air to circulate.
Lingle said there are no state laws or rules regarding placement of video lottery terminals, except that terminals only are permitted in licensed establishments that sell alcohol for on-site consumption. If an owner wants to risk damaging the terminal by exposing it to weather, Lingle said, “That is their decision.”
Now, said state Revenue Secretary Andy Gerlach, local governments that issue alcohol licenses will determine how to treat smoke shacks. Gerlach said a business could move the terminals into smoke shacks and later remove them as long as the data connection remained with the lottery’s central computer. It’s not clear if a business could locate a video lottery terminal on a patio without any walls, Gerlach noted.
State Attorney General Marty Jackley said lottery officials did not ask his office for a legal opinion about the smoke-shack policy and he has not issued any opinion.
South Dakota voters approved the 2010 smoking ban by a vote of 204,160 to 113,011. After it took effect, video lottery play dramatically decreased and still has not returned to pre-2010 levels.
