Virginia Charitable Gaming Permits and $40,000 Threshold

Virginia treats charitable gaming, bingo, raffles, paper and electronic pull-tabs, network bingo, and Texas Hold'em poker tournaments, as a closely regulated privilege, not a right. Code § 18.2-340.15 vests the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) with control of all charitable gaming in the Commonwealth and states the conduct of any charitable gaming 'may be granted, denied, or revoked by the Department or its duly authorized representatives in its discretion.'

The permit trigger is a $40,000 annual gross-receipts test, split by game type under § 18.2-340.23. An organization that reasonably expects $40,000 or less in a 12-month period from raffles alone owes VDACS no notice and no raffle permit. Separately, one expecting $40,000 or less from all non-raffle gaming (bingo, pull-tabs, poker tournaments) held on no more than seven days a year only has to register under § 18.2-340.24:1 rather than get a full permit. Once actual receipts cross either $40,000 line, § 18.2-340.23(C) requires the organization to obtain a permit under § 18.2-340.25 and start filing the periodic gross-receipts reports required by § 18.2-340.30.

Permit applications go to VDACS on Department forms with a processing fee. Section 18.2-340.25 gives the Department 45 days to act on a complete application, caps every permit at two years regardless of when it's issued, and lets VDACS fingerprint prospective employees, permit holders, and applicants through the Central Criminal Records Exchange and FBI as part of its 'reasonable investigation' before granting a permit. Volunteer fire departments, volunteer EMS agencies, and their recognized auxiliary units are exempt from application and audit fees for traditional games under § 18.2-340.23(D), but that exemption does not cover electronic gaming activity, which draws the same fees as any other organization.

Enforcement moves fast. Under § 18.2-340.36, an officer with reasonable cause can go straight to a judge or magistrate for immediate suspension of a permit or registration, no advance hearing required. The organization then gets written notice within one business day and a Department hearing within 10 days, and it cannot conduct any charitable gaming until the suspension is lifted by VDACS or a court.

Running charitable gaming without the required permit or registration, or knowingly filing a false application, report, or other document with VDACS, is a Class 1 misdemeanor under § 18.2-340.37: each additional day of continued violation is a separate offense. Anyone who converts charitable gaming funds to personal or another's use commits larceny: petit larceny if under $1,000, grand larceny at $1,000 or more. VDACS can also secure immediate court-ordered suspension of a permit on reasonable cause before any hearing takes place.