Illinois Statutes Chapter 230. Gaming § 10/7.1. Re-issuance of revoked or non-renewed owners licenses

(a) If an owners license terminates or expires without renewal or the Board revokes or determines not to renew an owners license (including, without limitation, an owners license for a licensee that was not conducting riverboat gambling operations on January 1, 1998) and that revocation or determination is final, the Board may re-issue such license to a qualified applicant pursuant to an open and competitive bidding process, as set forth in Section 7.5, and subject to the maximum number of authorized licenses set forth in Section 7(e).

(b) To be a qualified applicant, a person, firm, or corporation cannot be ineligible to receive an owners license under Section 7(a) and must submit an application for an owners license that complies with Section 6. Each such applicant must also submit evidence to the Board that minority persons and women hold ownership interests in the applicant of at least 16% and 4% respectively.

(c) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in Section 7(e), an applicant may apply to the Board for approval of relocation of a re-issued license to a new home dock location authorized under Section 3(c) upon receipt of the approval from the municipality or county, as the case may be, pursuant to Section 7(j).

(d) In determining whether to grant a re-issued owners license to an applicant, the Board shall consider all of the factors set forth in Sections 7(b) and (e) as well as the amount of the applicant's license bid. The Board may grant the re-issued owners license to an applicant that has not submitted the highest license bid, but if it does not select the highest bidder, the Board shall issue a written decision explaining why another applicant was selected and identifying the factors set forth in Sections 7(b) and (e) that favored the winning bidder.

(e) Re-issued owners licenses shall be subject to annual license fees as provided for in Section 7(a) and shall be governed by the provisions of Sections 7(f), (g), (h), and (i).