ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Phoenix, Arizona
admission tickets; fraud
Establishes a criminal
offense for fraudulently creating or possessing an admission ticket to
specified facilities that offer services to the public.
According
to the Phoenix International Raceway, fraudulent ticket use is a problem for
event sponsors. Recently, at a large
event five percent of the tickets passed through the gate were later determined
to be counterfeit, and an additional two percent of ticket holders were denied
entry at the gate once the ticket was identified as counterfeit.
Fraudulent
tickets also pose a problem for both the event sponsors in trying to police
disputes between patrons when seats are taken and for the patrons who have
purchased legitimate tickets and those legitimate ticket holders may be
displaced by a person holding a counterfeit ticket. Additionally, the state and local jurisdictions that share in the
sales tax from admission tickets are losing revenue as a result of counterfeit
tickets.
Currently, statute does
not govern the counterfeiting of event
tickets. This legislation is based on a
Florida statute that makes it unlawful for a person to counterfeit tickets with
the intent to defraud the facility. In
Florida, ticket vendors print the statute on the ticket as a warning for
potential purchasers of the risk of purchasing counterfeit tickets.
There is no discernable
fiscal impact to the general fund associated with this legislation.
1. Establishes a criminal offense punishable as a class 1 misdemeanor for a person with the intent to defraud, forge, alter or possess any ticket, token or paper designed for admission to or for the rendering of services by any sports, amusement, concert or other facility that offers services to the general public.
2. Provides for a general effective date.
COM 1/26/00 DP 8-0-0-1-0
Third Read 2/23/00 53-1-6-0
Prepared by Senate Staff
March 7, 2000