Can North Carolina warehouses legally store video poker machines that would be illegal to operate in the state?

Plain-English summary

Senator R.C. Soles Jr. asked whether video games or video poker machines whose operation would be illegal in North Carolina could nevertheless be stored or warehoused in the state. The Attorney General answered no.

The opinion points to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-304, which expressly makes it unlawful to store a covered "slot machine or device" as defined in § 14-306. The statute lists other acts, including owning, possessing, selling, and transporting such a device. The Attorney General's answer to the request, however, concerns storage and warehousing in North Carolina. It does not decide whether a shipment merely passing through the state is lawful or whether a machine's intended use in another state would change the analysis.

The definition in § 14-306 covers machines adapted, or readily convertible, for use like a traditional slot machine or similar gambling device. The opinion also quotes an exception for certain amusement devices involving skill or dexterity that limit accumulated credits or replays and any prize coupons as the statute specifies. The machine's actual features therefore matter when deciding whether it fits the prohibited category.

The opinion cites other Article 37 provisions concerning keeping or allowing illegal machines on premises, possession and operation, and agreements concerning them. It says violations of these statutes are Class 2 misdemeanors, while noting that the Attorney General's office had advocated felony treatment for possession of unlawful video poker machines or similar devices.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2000. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

For a current storage question, check the present statutory definition and any applicable exceptions.

Common questions

Q: Could a warehouse store the video poker machines described in the opinion if operating them in North Carolina was illegal?
A: No. The opinion says § 14-304 expressly prohibits storing a covered slot machine or device.

Q: Does disabling a machine automatically remove it from the prohibition?
A: The opinion says § 14-306 also covers machines that may be readily converted for gambling use. Whether a particular machine meets that definition depends on its features.

Q: Does the opinion decide whether machines may pass through North Carolina en route elsewhere?
A: No. It quotes "transport" in § 14-304 but does not analyze a pass-through shipment or a destination where use might be lawful.

Q: Are all video games covered?
A: No. The opinion quotes an exception for certain coin-operated amusement machines and games that meet the statute's limits on play credits and prizes. It does not classify every type of game.

Background and statutory framework

The opinion reads the storage prohibition in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-304 together with the device definition and exceptions in § 14-306. It also identifies related provisions on keeping, permitting, operating, possessing, or making agreements about covered machines. Its narrow answer is that machines whose operation would be unlawful under the described provisions cannot lawfully be stored or warehoused in North Carolina.

Citations from the opinion

• N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-295
• N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-297
• N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-301
• N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-304
• N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-305
• N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-306
• N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-309

Source

• Landing page: https://ncdoj.gov/opinions/video-games-or-video-poker-machines/

Original opinion text

June 7, 2000

The Honorable R.C. Soles, Jr. North Carolina Senate Room 2022, Legislative Building Raleigh, North Carolina 27601-2808

Dear Senator Soles:

You have asked for the opinion of the Attorney General's office as to whether video games or video poker machines, the operation of which would be illegal in this state under North Carolina law, may nonetheless be lawfully stored or warehoused in the state. The answer to that question is "no."

Article 37 of the North Carolina General Statutes treats the subject of illegal slot machines and other gaming or gambling machines in some detail. The particular statute applicable to your question is N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-304, which specifically states that it is unlawful not only to own but also to "store" any "slot machine or device where the user may become entitled to receive any money . . . or any thing of value." The types of machines that fall under this prohibition, which include the video games or video poker machines you referenced, are spelled out in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-306, which contains the definition of the term "slot machine or device."

The definition is rather extensive and need not be repeated here in full, but it essentially encompasses within its terms "any machine . . . that is adapted, or may be readily converted into one that is adapted, for use" in the manner associated with a traditional slot machine or similar gambling device. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-306. The statute also contains a number of exceptions designed to ensure that a variety of lawful machines are not swept under the definition of an illegal slot machine. For example, the definition notes that it "does not include coin-operated machines, video games, and devices used for amusement," including "pinball machines, video games, and other mechanical devices that involve the use of skill or dexterity to make varying scores or tallies and which, in actual operation, limit to eight the number of accumulated credits or replays that may be played at one time and which may award free replays or paper coupons that may be exchanged for prizes or merchandise with a value not exceeding ten dollars ($10.00), but may not be exchanged or converted to money." Id.

It is useful to review the full text of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-304 to appreciate the scope of the ban on storage of these machines. The statute reads:

It shall be unlawful to manufacture, own, store, keep, possess, sell, rent, lease, let on shares, lend or give away, transport, or expose for sale or lease, or to offer to sell, rent, lease, let on shares, lend or give away, or to permit the operation of, or for any person to permit to be placed, maintained, used or kept in any room, space or building owned, leased or occupied by him or under his management or control, any slot machine or device where the user may become entitled to receive any money, credit, allowance, or any thing of value, as defined in G.S. 14-306.

N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-304. The state's regulation and prohibition of these machines is quite comprehensive and several other statutory sections touch on the issue of the lawfulness of storing such machines. These include N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-295 (keeping illegal punchboards or slot machines), N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-297 (allowing illegal punchboards or slot machines on premises), N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-301 (operation and possession of slot machines), and N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-305 (agreements with reference to slot machines or devices made unlawful). The definition of illegal machines includes not only operational machines, but machines that "may be readily converted into" machines that would violate the law. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-306.

Violations of these statutes are treated as Class 2 misdemeanors, see e.g. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-309, although this office has advocated that possession of unlawful video poker machines or similar devices be punished as a felony.

At your request, I am also enclosing prior opinions of this office that address the statutes in question.

Very truly yours,

J. Donald Hobart, Jr.

Legal Counsel to the Attorney General