0001

1 INDEX

PAGE

I Call to Order 2

II Consideration of Minutes. 2

4 A. March 29, 2001

B. April 25, 2001

5 C. May 4, 2001

D. May 30, 2001

III Consideration of Hearing Officer

7 Recommendations.

E. Jerald V. Hall

8 1. Resolution No. 01-053 4

F. Dana Quintanilla

9 2. Resolution No. 01-054 6

10 IV Consideration of Relicensure of

Suppliers.

11 Presentation of Lt. Wilhoit. 11

G. Midwest Game Supply Company

12 1. Resolution No. 01-055 12

H. Shuffle Master, Inc.

13 2. Resolution No. 01-056 14

I. WMS Gaming, Inc.

14 3. Resolution No. 01-057 15

15 V Consideration of Licensure of

Class A. Licensee

16 Mark Twain Casino

Presentation of Larry Seckington 16 & 65

17 City of LaGrange

Presentation of Mayor Ludwig 19

18 Public Comment.

Investigative Recommendation

19 Presentation of Sheriff Parrish 23

Presentation of Mr. DeCoster 29

20 Presentation of Chief Baker 42

Presentation of Cpl. Kathy Broderick 49

21 Presentation of Mr. Boyle 53

Presentation of Mr. Yaeger 56

22 J. Mark Twain Casino, L.L.C.

1. Resolution No. 01-058 62

VI Consideration of Level I/Key Applicants

24 K. Resolution No. 01-059 64

0002

1 CHAIRMAN ULLERY: Before we call the

2 roll and before we get official, I want to apologize

3 to you that have been hassled by one of the

4 commissioners going around here taking pictures. I

5 have no idea what's going on.

6 COMMISSIONER SMITH: This is a historic

7 occasion.

8 CHAIRMAN ULLERY: He says that this is a

9 historic occasion. So we'll drop it at that. It

10 probably is.

11 Angie, will you call the roll?

12 MS. FRANKS: Chairman Ullery.

13 CHAIRMAN ULLERY: Present.

14 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Smith.

15 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Present.

16 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Nikolaisen.

17 COMMISSIONER NIKOLAISEN: Present.

18 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Battle.

19 COMMISSIONER BATTLE: Present.

20 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Adorjan.

21 (No response.)

22 MR. MULLALLY: Mr. Chairman, the first

23 item on the agenda is the consideration of the

24 approval of four different sets of minutes contained

25 in Tabs A through D in your book.

0003

1 COMMISSIONER SMITH: The only question I

2 have, I didn't realize we were so long winded. Trying

3 to read all these minutes.

4 MR. MULLALLY: The legal staff really

5 enjoys going through all these, but they have

6 reviewed them, and I don't believe we have any

7 suggested corrections.

8 CHAIRMAN ULLERY: Do any of the

9 commissioners have any corrections to any of the four?

10 COMMISSIONER SMITH: I thought they were

11 well done.

12 COMMISSIONER BATTLE: They were very

13 complete.

14 COMMISSIONER NIKOLAISEN: I just wish I

15 was more articulate.

16 CHAIRMAN ULLERY: Apparently we have no

17 objections. I will consider a motion to approve the

18 minutes of March 29th, 2001, April 25th, May 4th and

19 May 30th, 2001.

20 COMMISSIONER BATTLE: I move approval.

21 COMMISSIONER NIKOLAISEN: Second.

22 CHAIRMAN ULLERY: We have motion, we

23 have a second. Angie.

24 MS. FRANKS: Chairman Ullery.

25 CHAIRMAN ULLERY: In favor.

0004

1 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Smith.

2 COMMISSIONER SMITH: In favor.

3 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Nikolaisen.

4 COMMISSIONER NIKOLAISEN: In favor.

5 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Battle.

6 COMMISSIONER BATTLE: In favor.

7 MS. FRANKS: By your vote, you have

8 adopted the minutes of the March 29th, 2001 meeting,

9 April 25th, 2001 meeting, May 4th, 2001 meeting and

10 May 30th, 2001 meeting.

11 CHAIRMAN ULLERY: Thank you.

12 MR. MULLALLY: Mr. Chairman, under Tabs

13 E and F are two hearing officer recommendations.

14 Unfortunately, Hearing Officer Mike Yost is unable to

15 be here today, but I believe the record is

16 sufficiently clear that if you would like to discuss

17 them, take the appropriate action.

18 CHAIRMAN ULLERY: I would like to

19 discuss these, and I would ask comments from the

20 commissioners. If we have any specific questions

21 we'll table that until such time as the hearing

22 officer can be here.

23 Reference Resolution 01-053. Have you

24 had a chance to review those?

25 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Mr. Chairman, the

0005

1 only question I had is, it would seem to me that the

2 penalty was a little mild for flagrant violations.

3 COMMISSIONER NIKOLAISEN: I was going to

4 ask the same question. Had that been in line with

5 what we have been doing? I don't know if anybody

6 here can answer that.

7 MR. MULLALLY: Yes, I believe that the

8 penalty is consistent with what we have done for this

9 type of offense with other Level 2 licensees.

10 CHAIRMAN ULLERY: Seems to me like about

11 three months ago we had a very similar case, and I

12 can't be specific about it, that we went to 56, but

13 I'm not sure on that.

14 If you would like, we can table it and

15 ask the hearing officer to have it come up.

16 Do I have a motion to approve or motion

17 to table?

18 COMMISSIONER NIKOLAISEN: I move to

19 approve.

20 COMMISSIONER BATTLE: I will second it.

21 CHAIRMAN ULLERY: We have a motion, we

22 have a second to approve Resolution 01-053. Angie.

23 MS. FRANKS: Chairman Ullery.

24 CHAIRMAN ULLERY: In favor.

25 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Smith.

0006

1 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Opposed.

2 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Nikolaisen.

3 COMMISSIONER NIKOLAISEN: In favor.

4 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Battle.

5 COMMISSIONER BATTLE: In favor.

6 MS. FRANKS: By your vote, you have

7 adopted Resolution 01-053.

8 CHAIRMAN ULLERY: We have before us now

9 the same situation, I believe. Resolution 01-054.

10 And again, the hearing officer, the same hearing

11 officer, Mr. Yost. And we have here the decree is to

12 deny an operational license. Have you had a chance

13 to review that?

14 COMMISSIONER SMITH: The only question

15 here is why did she appeal it.

16 CHAIRMAN ULLERY: I'm not sure that Mr.

17 Yost could answer that, Mr. Smith, do you?

18 COMMISSIONER SMITH: No.

19 CHAIRMAN ULLERY: Why she appealed it,

20 because if I remember right, she did not appear; is

21 that correct?

22 COMMISSIONER NIKOLAISEN: Right.

23 COMMISSIONER SMITH: I move approval of

24 the recommendation under 01-054.

25 COMMISSIONER NIKOLAISEN: I second it.

0007

1 CHAIRMAN ULLERY: I have a motion, I have

2 a second on Resolution 01-054.

3 Angie, call the roll, please.

4 MS. FRANKS: Chairman Ullery.

5 CHAIRMAN ULLERY: In favor.

6 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Smith.

7 COMMISSIONER SMITH: In favor.

8 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Nikolaisen.

9 COMMISSIONER NIKOLAISEN: In favor.

10 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Battle.

11 COMMISSIONER BATTLE: In favor.

12 MS. FRANKS: By your vote, you have

13 adopted Resolution 01-054.

14 MR. MULLALLY: One of the issues that we

15 are looking at internally, and it may be appropriate

16 to get your thoughts on, is to whether there ought to

17 be some form of monetary penalty for those people who

18 request a hearing and then fail to appear. You know,

19 we incur significant costs in conducting these

20 hearings. We have to pay the court reporter; a great

21 deal of our staff time is devoted to oftentimes

22 traveling to Kansas City or St. Louis; you have the

23 Assistant Attorney General there; and then you have

24 to pay the hearing officer. And when they don't

25 show, all that is for naught. The lawyers are kind

0008

1 of looking at whether there are some constitutional

2 issues that may be involved there. But it happens

3 with sufficient frequency that it has caught our

4 attention.

5 COMMISSIONER NIKOLAISEN: I think after

6 this time it caught mine too. I don't know what you

7 would call it, if it's a penalty, if it's just a

8 recovery of costs.

9 MR. MULLALLY: That's what we are

10 thinking.

11 COMMISSIONER NIKOLAISEN: As long as

12 it's constitutionally --

13 COMMISSIONER BATTLE: I think cost is

14 reasonable, if you would look into it and see --

15 COMMISSIONER NIKOLAISEN: We have looked

16 into it. It's wrong. It's constant, request a hearing,

17 then no show.

18 COMMISSIONER SMITH: How would you

19 collect in a situation like this?

20 MR. MULLALLY: Well,, you know --

21 COMMISSIONER NIKOLAISEN: That's part of

22 the research too.

23 MR. MULLALLY: Part of it will depend on

24 whether they have been revoked or not. Certainly if

25 it's simply a discipline, if you're suspending them

0009

1 for a few hours, you have pretty good leverage to

2 collect.

3 COMMISSIONER SMITH: In this case it's a

4 denial.

5 MR. MULLALLY: It's a denial, yes. Many

6 times it's not a denial, it's a suspension, and they

7 request a hearing and they don't show up.

8 COMMISSIONER NIKOLAISEN: I think we

9 would have to alert someone up front that if you

10 request a hearing and you fail to show, you know,

11 without proper cause, you will be assessed some sort

12 of cost recovery. You know, part of me says that's

13 fair; the other part of me says are we violating

14 their right to a hearing, you know. Or would that in

15 their mind say, well, just in case I don't make it, I

16 won't even bother to appeal, you know. It's their

17 right to come tell their side of the story.

18 MR. MULLALLY: It's one of those

19 situations where it's not a denial of fairness,

20 because I was -- I mean I know because I was the

21 Commission's first hearing officer. I don't think

22 any of you were on the commission at the time, but

23 one of the practices I started was that, you know, we

24 were very liberal in granting continuances, if they

25 showed up and they didn't have an attorney, we would

0010

1 allow the hearing to be continued until they had an

2 attorney. And that practice has generally been

3 continued by all of the other hearing officers. They

4 have been very fair with these people, it's not a

5 heavy-handed process. It's just very frustrating, I

6 know as a hearing officer, when you schedule a docket

7 and then you have two or three people don't show up,

8 you're essentially just sitting around waiting for

9 the one you scheduled later in the day. So you've

10 got a lot of professional people paying, you know,

11 substantial salaries doing nothing.

12 COMMISSIONER NIKOLAISEN: I think it's

13 worth considering and looking into, and coming up

14 with a suggestion.

15 CHAIRMAN ULLERY: I would agree with

16 that. I would also like to see if it's practical,

17 how many no shows have we had in the last say year or

18 whatever time element would give us a good feel.

19 MR. MULLALLY: Angie, do you have an idea?

20 CHAIRMAN ULLERY: I don't need to know

21 now.

22 MR. MULLALLY: We can get you that.

23 CHAIRMAN ULLERY: When it's brought back

24 before us I think we need to look at that.

25 MR. MULLALLY: It's not an

0011

1 inconsequential number. It's more than a half dozen.

2 CHAIRMAN ULLERY: I would certainly --

3 at least at this stage of the game, I think if in

4 fact we establish this, I think there should -- maybe

5 there should be a set fee and so on, so forth, so

6 there is no question, and certain guidelines, you

7 know, if you notify us so much ahead of time or

8 whatever. Whatever makes it fair for the public. So

9 our legal staff can take a look into that; right?

10 MR. MULLALLY: Kind of like canceling

11 your hotel room, you have to call by noon.

12 COMMISSIONER SMITH: There are two

13 sides, one is the waste of time, as you point out, of

14 the staff. The other side is I have been in areas

15 where somebody felt they can't appeal because of the

16 risk and cost.

17 MR. MULLALLY: Sure. Mr. Chairman, the

18 next item on the agenda is consideration of

19 relicensure of suppliers. Lt. Rick Wilhoit will make

20 presentation on behalf of the staff.

21 LT. WILHOIT: Good morning. Mr.

22 Chairman, Commissioners, background investigations,

23 to include criminal history checks and tax reviews of

24 the following suppliers and their respective key

25 persons have been conducted in conjunction with the

0012

1 relicensing. As a result of the investigations, the

2 following suppliers have been found suitable for

3 relicensing by the Commission. Midwest Game Supply

4 Company, Shuffle Master, Inc., and WMS Gaming, Inc.

5 CHAIRMAN ULLERY: Does anybody have any

6 questions?

7 COMMISSIONER NIKOLAISEN: We probably

8 need to do these separately.

9 MR. MULLALLY: That's correct.

10 CHAIRMAN ULLERY: Absolutely. I have

11 been burned about three times on this now. First of

12 all, do I have any comment, suggestions or a motion

13 on resolution No. 01-055?

14 COMMISSIONER NIKOLAISEN: I move for

15 approval.

16 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Second.

17 CHAIRMAN ULLERY: I have a motion and a

18 second on Resolution 01-055.

19 COMMISSIONER SMITH: I just want to make

20 a comment that since we are up in a new location

21 maybe it might be good just briefly to state what you

22 do to investigate these, so the public will know how

23 you go about it.

24 LT. WILHOIT: On a relicensing?

25 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Sure.

0013

1 LT. WILHOIT: We go back and check the

2 tax, the state tax and federal income tax submissions

3 for the companies. And then we relook at the

4 individuals, and make sure that they haven't incurred

5 any types of character or criminal issues since their

6 last licensing.

7 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Okay.

8 CHAIRMAN ULLERY: Just another mini

9 background, is it not?

10 LT. WILHOIT: Yes.

11 MR. MULLALLY: Any other regulatory

12 bodies too.

13 LT. WILHOIT: Yes, any other regulatory

14 bodies too.

15 COMMISSIONER NIKOLAISEN: There is also

16 a financial check.

17 LT. WILHOIT: Well, the financial check

18 in the relicensing is pretty minimal.

19 COMMISSIONER NIKOLAISEN: But I mean

20 there are some statements --

21 LT. WILHOIT: Yes.

22 COMMISSIONER NIKOLAISEN: -- making sure

23 they are still solvent basically.

24 LT. WILHOIT: Yes.

25 MR. MULLALLY: Jim Oberkirsch monitors

0014

1 all of these companies, not only our suppliers, but

2 the licensee companies and the applicants, frankly.

3 And any -- he does that on a monthly basis through

4 the SEC reports and those type of things and any

5 issues he sees he would forward to the

6 investigators. So if there are potential

7 investigative issues, they would be monitored.

8 CHAIRMAN ULLERY: We have before us

9 Resolution 01-055. We have a motion, we have a

10 second.

11 Angie, would you call the roll, please.

12 MS. FRANKS: Chairman Ullery.

13 CHAIRMAN ULLERY: In favor.

14 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Smith.

15 COMMISSIONER SMITH: In favor.

16 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Nikolaisen.

17 COMMISSIONER NIKOLAISEN: In favor.

18 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Battle.

19 COMMISSIONER BATTLE: In favor.

20 MS. FRANKS: By your vote, you have

21 adopted Resolution 01-055.

22 COMMISSIONER NIKOLAISEN: I move for

23 adoption of Resolution 01-056.

24 CHAIRMAN ULLERY: Do I have a second or

25 comments?

0015

1 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Second it.

2 CHAIRMAN ULLERY: I have a motion and I

3 have a second on Resolution 01-056.

4 Angie, call the roll.

5 MS. FRANKS: Chairman Ullery.

6 CHAIRMAN ULLERY: In favor.

7 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Smith.

8 COMMISSIONER SMITH: In favor.

9 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Nikolaisen.

10 COMMISSIONER NIKOLAISEN: In favor.

11 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Battle.

12 COMMISSIONER BATTLE: In favor.

13 MS. FRANKS: By your vote, you have

14 adopted Resolution 01-056.

15 CHAIRMAN ULLERY: We have before us

16 Resolution 01-057.

17 COMMISSIONER BATTLE: I move in favor

18 second?

19 COMMISSIONER NIKOLAISEN: Second.

20 CHAIRMAN ULLERY: I have a motion and I

21 have a second.

22 Angie, call the roll.

23 MS. FRANKS: Chairman Ullery.

24 CHAIRMAN ULLERY: In favor.

25 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Smith.

0016

1 COMMISSIONER SMITH: In favor.

2 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Nikolaisen.

3 COMMISSIONER NIKOLAISEN: In favor.

4 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Battle.

5 COMMISSIONER BATTLE: In favor.

6 MS. FRANKS: By your vote, you have

7 adopted Resolution 01-057.

8 CHAIRMAN ULLERY: Thank you, Rick.

9 MR. MULLALLY: Mr. Chairman, the next

10 item on the agenda is the consideration of licensure

11 of Class A licensee. The applicant is the Mark Twain

12 Casino. They completed their final exercise

13 yesterday with the practice gaming session, and in

14 the order of business here, the first item would be a

15 presentation from the company. I believe Mr. Bill

16 Grace is here, and Larry Seckington, to make a

17 presentation for the company.

18 MR. SECKINGTON: Mr. Chairman,

19 Commissioners: My name is Larry Seckington with Mark

20 Twain Casino. As Mr. Mullally stated, yesterday we

21 completed the shakedown practice sessions. The

22 company I believe has now performed all of the

23 matters that were required to obtain a Class A

24 license. The company has completed the

25 infrastructure with the city. I know there is still

0017

1 an outstanding question with the county, but we

2 believe that the police infrastructure is adequate

3 now to protect the public safety. We have gone

4 through the final checklist from the Gaming

5 Commission and submitted all documents. We have done

6 three practice sessions internally and then completed

7 successfully I think yesterday with the commission.

8 I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr.

9 Johnson, Mr. Buschjost, Mr. Greeno. They have spent

10 a lot of time in our facility over the last couple of

11 weeks, where we have done some intensive training

12 under their guidance and tutelage, and we really

13 appreciate the staff's commitment to this location.

14 We believe that the issuance of a license today is

15 appropriate as an economic development tool for the

16 Northeast Missouri area, and the City of LaGrange.

17 We believe that we'll be a good corporate citizen up

18 here, and hopefully make the Commission proud of this

19 decision to locate a boat here.

20 I would be happy to answer any questions

21 the Commissioners might have.

22 COMMISSIONER BATTLE: I would like to go

23 on record as commending the staff yesterday for their

24 hospitality and efficiency, and making sure that the

25 consumer realized what they were having to do to be

0018

1 efficient. So I would like to commend them.

2 MR. SECKINGTON: Thank you very much.

3 As we have told the Commission before, we are very

4 proud of the employees that we have been able to hire

5 here. We had approximately 325 employees on the

6 payroll. About half of those folks are from

7 Missouri, about half from Illinois. But when we

8 first did our job fair up here we had three hundred

9 or so openings, and we had applicants, over 700

10 applicants for the job. They are a very enthusiastic

11 and very competent group, we believe, and we

12 certainly hope that the customer service orientation

13 that was shown yesterday continues for the life of

14 the company.

15 CHAIRMAN ULLERY: Any other questions

16 for Mr. Seckington?

17 COMMISSIONER SMITH: What percentage of

18 your patrons do you think will come from the state of

19 Illinois? Do you have any projections on that.

20 MR. SECKINGTON: The projections that we

21 have, Commissioner, are, from the Illinois and Iowa

22 markets will be 50% or more. So we believe that

23 we'll be very successful in attracting people from

24 Quincy and Keokuk area.

25 CHAIRMAN ULLERY: Any other questions?

0019

1 Thank you.

2 MR. SECKINGTON: Thank you very much.

3 MR. GRACE: On behalf of the owners, Mr.

4 Ward Sauvage and myself, and Ward is here, those of

5 you who don't know him, we are very glad to be here.

6 We are very proud of the relationship we had with the

7 community. We think it's going fine. We like our

8 facility. We are delighted with the staff we have

9 hired, and the Commission has done a tremendous job

10 of working with us in preparation for opening, and we

11 look forward to your positive vote. Thank you very

12 much.

13 CHAIRMAN ULLERY: How are you doing with

14 the County.

15 MR. GRACE: That's the city's

16 responsibility. I will let others respond to that.

17 CHAIRMAN ULLERY: Thank you, Mr. Grace.

18 We appreciate it.

19 MR. MULLALLY: Mr. Chairman, at this

20 time we would like to hear from the City of

21 LaGrange. I believe the Mayor is here.

22 MAYOR LUDWIG: Thank you for the

23 opportunity to speak to you folks. First off, I

24 would like to welcome the Commission and Mark Twain

25 Casino for being in LaGrange. We feel it's a

0020

1 privilege for you people to be here, and we are

2 looking forward to what is about to happen to

3 LaGrange.

4 As far as the infrastructure that is

5 going on, we feel that right now we are comfortable

6 with it. I won't say that we are satisfied, but we

7 are comfortable. We are still working on police

8 protection. We feel it is adequate at this time, but

9 we still are looking and searching for more officers.

10 We have five interviews tomorrow night. Out of these

11 five, I can't say that there will be five hired. We

12 don't feel that just because they put in an

13 application, that we should hire them. We want good

14 qualified people in town.

15 We feel that up to this point, we have

16 had a real good working relationship with Mark Twain

17 Casino. There has not been any major problems. The

18 problems that has arisen has been taken care of

19 immediately through their cooperation and ours. We

20 have had a good relationship with the construction

21 crews that has been in town. And we just feel like

22 that this is going to be one of the most exciting

23 things that's happened to LaGrange in the 61 years

24 that I have been here. There has been some other

25 things that's went on, but to me, this is the most

0021

1 exciting, and we are very much looking forward to

2 what can take place and what is going to take place.

3 We will continue to work towards the

4 infrastructure of LaGrange. It's not something that

5 is being completed overnight. We know it can't be,

6 but we are continually working towards that goal.

7 And again, I thank you people and

8 welcome you to the City of LaGrange.

9 CHAIRMAN ULLERY: Do you have any

10 questions for the Mayor.

11 COMMISSIONER SMITH: What plans do you

12 have for the use of the funds that you'll derive from

13 the boat?

14 MAYOR LUDWIG: Well, to really tell you,

15 we haven't set down. We've got some plans in

16 motion. There is some things that we've got to

17 address that we are working on at this time. That is

18 upgrading the sewer system that we have. It's

19 adequate to take care of the problems, but if there

20 is any more growth, then we foresee a problem, so we

21 are addressing it. We have got a proposal in to DNR,

22 what is the most feasible to build. There is just a

23 lot of work that needs to be done in LaGrange, but we

24 need to set down and see what the most important

25 things are.

0022

1 CHAIRMAN ULLERY: Any other questions?

2 Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

3 MR. MULLALLY: Mr. Mayor, there is a

4 couple things that I think it would be important to

5 address: one, it's my understanding that you have

6 agreed to hire a city manager for LaGrange?

7 MAYOR LUDWIG: An administrator.

8 MR. MULLALLY: An administrator?

9 MAYOR LUDWIG: Yes.

10 MR. MULLALLY: And also the city has

11 made a commitment to $25,000 for the county

12 prosecutor?

13 MAYOR LUDWIG: Yes, but we haven't heard

14 any response from that.

15 MR. MULLALLY: Okay. But you have made

16 the offer.

17 MAYOR LUDWIG: Yes.

18 MR. MULLALLY: And also a police car for

19 the sheriff.

20 MAYOR LUDWIG: Yes.

21 CHAIRMAN ULLERY: I think you're on the

22 right track, Mr. Mayor. I appreciate that.

23 MAYOR LUDWIG: Thank you very