New Jersey’s Senate Judiciary Committee has advanced legislation that would replace criminal penalties for underage gambling at casinos and simulcasting facilities with civil fines. S597, sponsored by Senators James Beach and Vince Polistina, cleared the committee on October 15. The proposal would retain the minimum gambling age of 21 for those venues.
The changes would also cover people who knowingly permit someone underage in their lawful care, custody, or control to wager or attempt to wager. Casino licensees and employees who allow underage people to remain in or gamble at the covered facilities would face the same civil penalty schedule.
A first violation would carry a fine of up to $500, rising to $1,000 for a second and $2,000 for a third or subsequent violation. Currently, underage gambling constitutes a disorderly persons offense carrying a 500–1,000 fine. People under 18 are handled through the juvenile justice system; the proposed civil penalties would also apply to that group.
Fine revenue would fund gambling prevention and treatment.
Money collected under the legislation would enter New Jersey’s General Fund for appropriation to the Department of Human Services. It would support qualifying compulsive gambling prevention, education, and treatment programs, with the bill identifying services provided by the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey as an example.
Beach has argued that criminal records can impose lasting consequences on young people and that intervention should focus on behavioral change. Polistina has pointed to young people’s exposure to betting advertising through sports broadcasts and digital media, saying the proposal would preserve accountability while directing penalties toward prevention and support.
The committee approved S597 by an 11–0 vote and referred it to the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, CasinoBeats reported. The measure still requires further legislative approval and the governor’s signature before becoming law; its text provides for immediate effect upon enactment.
