Recently members of the West Virginia Joint Standing Committee on Finance received an update on SB 415, regarding the West Virginia Lottery’s implementation of wagering on collegiate and professional sports. The bill passed during the 2018 regular session and Governor Jim Justice signed it into law March 9, before the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the federal ban on sports betting.
West Virginia Lottery Managing General Counsel Danielle Boyd said work has been ongoing during the past few months to secure the infrastructure required to start accepting sports wagers in West Virginia’s casinos and on mobile apps. She said casinos are building “sports wagering lounges” as well as digital platforms on mobile applications to be ready to accept wagers for the upcoming football season—a “realistic but ambitious goal,” Boyd said.
She said users of the sports betting app must be located within West Virginia’s borders when they make their wagers; special apps will be able to determine the geo-location of users to make assure compliance with state and federal laws.
Regarding security, Boyd added, “There is everyday monitoring of all transactions. There are multiple protections in place. The technology has been working very well in other states, protecting customers.”
Under the current rules, integrity fees will not be paid to sports leagues. However, West Virginia Lottery Director Alan Larric said discussions are “ongoing” between the casinos and sports leagues regarding integrity fees.
Meanwhile, photos of Larric have been posted on Facebook indicating he’s continuing to run Larrick Law Offices, specializing in real estate law. That is prohibited under state law, which states, “The director serves on a full-time basis and may not be engaged in any other profession or occupation.”
Larrick, who was hired by Justice in 2016, previously has acknowledged he still runs his practice, although he has hired another attorney to help manage operations. He was confirmed by the Senate which knew about his ongoing legal work. Nick Casey, Justice’s former chief of staff, hand-wrote and signed a postscript to that letter granting Larrick 90 days to hire another attorney to help him.
