Menifee, CA Gambling & Gaming: Card Room Licensing (2026)
Key Facts
- Special business type
- Card rooms designated under Sec. 5.01.090(B)(7)
- Background check
- Chief of Police investigates owners and managers
- Application requirement
- Fingerprinting and photographing required
- Denial basis
- Sec. 5.01.140(L) cites card room standards specifically
- Penalty
- Misdemeanor and public nuisance under Sec. 5.01.260
Summary
Card rooms are one of 21 licensed 'special business types' under Menifee Code of Ordinances Section 5.01.090, meaning an owner cannot simply file a standard business license application. The Chief of Police must investigate the background of the owners and managers and fingerprint and photograph applicants before the city will license the room.
(A) Under this section, the Chief of Police or his/her designee shall investigate the background of the owner and persons managing or supervising the business as deemed appropriate, unless otherwise exempted in the Chief of Police's discretion. ... Applicants applying a for a license under a special business type shall be fingerprinted and photographed and consideration shall be given to the criminal record, if any, the business responsibility of the firm and the owner (such as previous license revocations, denials, or citations). ... (B) The following enterprises or activity types, including any independent contractors conducting the below activity, are designated as special business types: ... (7) Card rooms; ... (C) The special business types listed above require special investigation, review, and/or regulation because: (1) The tendency of certain categories of enterprises to engage, whether intentionally or unintentionally, in the promotion of crime; (2) The tendency of certain categories of enterprises to be placed where criminal activity is heightened;
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: 2026 S-15: Supplement contains: Local legislation current through Ordinance 2026-432, passed 4-15-2026).
Full Breakdown
090 pulls them out of the ordinary business license process. Subsection (B)(7) designates 'Card rooms' as a special business type alongside adult businesses, bingo parlors, pool halls, and pawnshops. Under subsection (A), before the city issues or renews a card room's business license, the Chief of Police or a designee investigates the background of the owner and anyone managing or supervising the operation, unless the Chief exercises discretion to exempt a particular investigation. Applicants must be fingerprinted and photographed, and the city weighs the applicant's criminal record and the firm's business responsibility, including any prior license revocations, denials, or citations; the City Council sets the fingerprinting fee by resolution.
Subsection (C) explains the policy basis for this extra scrutiny: the tendency of certain enterprises to promote crime, whether intentionally or not, and their tendency to be sited where criminal activity is already heightened. 140(L) separately makes it an independent ground for denying a business license if the applicant fails to meet the Code's provisions governing card rooms, alongside adult oriented businesses, massage establishments, and bingo halls. 140(N) bars a new application for the same or another use once a prior license has been revoked. 220(C).
Violations & Fines
Operating a card room in Menifee without completing the special business type background investigation, fingerprinting, and licensing under Section 5.01.090, or continuing to operate after a license denial or revocation, is a misdemeanor and public nuisance under Section 5.01.260. The city can enforce through administrative citation, injunction, or criminal prosecution, and a revoked license blocks a new application for the same or another business at that location.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are card rooms legal in Menifee?
Why does Menifee investigate card room owners before licensing?
What happens if a card room's license is revoked?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Menifee
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