*Click on the rule number to view the proposed changes.*

• 3772-19-01 (amendment) – titled “Definitions.” This rule sets forth definitions for various terms related to casino surveillance. The purpose of this rule is to further clarify the meaning of certain terms used throughout Ohio Adm.Code 3772-19.

• 3772-19-02 (amendment) – titled “Responsibilities of the surveillance department.” The amendments to this rule are intended to lessen the procedural onus placed upon casino operators to remain compliant with the rules adopted by the Commission, while maintaining the Commission’s ability to ensure the integrity of casino gaming. As the Commission slightly pivots to regulatory oversight primarily by audit rather than prospective review and approval, the amendments to this rule require that a casino operator’s surveillance plan be made available to the Commission, rather than it be submitted for approval prior to implementation. However, the Executive Director must still approve any modifications or upgrades to a surveillance system. The amendments further clarify that a casino operator's interactive electronic floor plans must show the placement of all surveillance equipment in its facility as well as all the gaming equipment on its floor. Lastly, the provision requiring the surveillance department to receive and monitor open-door alerts for all slot machines was also relocated to this section in an effort to better differentiate between coverage and system.

• 3772-19-03 (amendment) – titled “Required surveillance system.” The purpose of this rule is to detail the baseline requirements for each casino's surveillance system, including video camera quality, video monitor capability, and image capturing utility. The amendments largely focus on clarifying and simplifying the rule as a whole in order to eliminate redundancy and differentiate between coverage and system and the extent to which a casino operator must seek Commission- or Executive Director-approval prior to making changes. Substantively, the amendments provide the option for casino operators to operate a surveillance system that allows for remote access for authorized personnel according to the rule and in accordance with the requirements provided in Ohio Adm.Code 3772-10-15. The amendments further provide that a casino operator’s IT personnel may, for the purposes of maintenance and security, have access to surveillance system hardware and software. Finally, cameras no longer need to be installed in a manner that provides ambiguity of their direction and coverage capabilities, as this provision provided minimal regulatory benefits.

• 3772-19-04 (amendment) – titled “Commission surveillance room and on-site facilities.” The purpose of the rule is to detail the minimum specifications for the Commission surveillance room, including workstation capabilities, telephone and internet communication systems, and how room location and size are to be determined. The amendments are primarily to safeguard the Commission’s ability to ensure the integrity of casino gaming, by providing the Commission with access to (including override access of) the surveillance system, which existed previously in a separate rule but is more appropriately placed here. The amendments are also intended to ensure the Commission’s surveillance room is equipped to facilitate secure remote access to its surveillance system, and that the Commission has absolute control over the provided surveillance equipment.

• 3772-19-05 (amendment) – titled “Casino surveillance room.” The purpose of this rule is to detail minimum specifications for the casino surveillance room including location of the entrance, limits on access, and minimum surveillance room staff requirements. Pursuant to its five-year review, the amendments attempt to clarify language. Additionally, the amendments adjust the limits on access to include IT personnel and Commission personnel, in addition to casino surveillance personnel. Aligning with language changes in other rules, the amendment to the rule specifies it is the Executive Director that may increase the minimum casino surveillance room staffing, and it is the Executive Director and the Director of Surveillance who must authorize other persons to enter the casino surveillance room.

• 3772-19-06 (amendment) – titled “Surveillance department.” The purpose of the rule is to detail minimum operating requirements for each casino’s surveillance department, including the responsibilities of the Director of Surveillance, surveillance employee training, and permitted uses of surveillance resources. Other than replacing the term “Commission” with “Executive Director” throughout the rule, for the reasons articulated above, the only substantive change removes the minimum training requirements for surveillance employees because a similar, near redundant provision exists in Ohio Adm.Code 3772-10-03, rendering this provision unnecessary.

• 3772-19-07 (amendment) – titled “Required surveillance coverage.” The amendments to this rule require all poker rooms to continue to be monitored and recorded by the surveillance system, just as table game areas are, but allows for a waiver of such surveillance requirements for player against player contests conducted outside of the designated, segregated poker room. Generally, the nature of those events do not require the level of scrutiny that standard table game or slot machine play does, which merits this reduction in surveillance coverage as long as a plan for otherwise sufficient coverage is provided to and approved by the Executive Director. Further, the amendments to this rule clarify it is the Executive Director who must approve all surveillance coverage at each casino facility and determine how the surveillance systems of casino facilities will monitor and record activity in non-gaming areas. The amendments also mandate that casino operators maintain and employ at least one secure room for detention purposes equipped with audio and video surveillance equipment capable of continuous monitoring and recording. Finally, other small changes were made regarding the use and operation of pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) cameras.

• 3772-19-08 (amendment) – titled “Surveillance retention.” The amendments to this rule seek consistency of language with Ohio Adm.Code 3772-19-09, in particular ensuring paragraph (C) of this rule tracks the language in Ohio Adm.Code 3772-19-09(A). The only other substantive amendment removes a surveillance-specific retention rule because the general retention requirements in Ohio Adm. Code 3772-1-07 and 3772-10-05 already apply.

• 3772-19-09 (amendment) – titled “Surveillance reports.” First, as described above, consistent language is sought between paragraph (A) and Ohio Adm.Code 3772-19-08(C). Second, while it appears that many of the surveillance log requirements were eliminated, these amendments merely reflect present practice in that this information is required to be tracked, reported, or otherwise memorialized in other fashions. As a consequence, much of this rule required items to be logged for the sake of being logged, which became redundant and tedious work, and shifted forces from actual surveillance. The amendments provide the Commission continuous access to surveillance reports without the reports needing to be stored in a manner that prevents alteration entirely because alterations may be necessary and are acceptable if tracked access is limited to surveillance and Commission employees. 

• 3772-19-10 (amendment) – titled “Maintenance and malfunctions.” The amendments to this rule are intended to clarify responsibilities during maintenance malfunctions. No substantive changes, other than those related to the insertion of “Executive Director” were made. All remaining changes are merely to clarify and better articulate a casino operator’s responsibilities under this rule.