(1) The Horse Racing Law vests the California Horse Racing Board with jurisdiction and supervision over horse racing meetings in the state and requires the board to appoint an executive director to carry out and execute the duties as specified by law and by the board.
This bill would require all civil process in actions brought against the executive director or the board and all subpoenas for the production of board records to be served upon the executive director or their designated representative at the board's headquarters in Sacramento.
(2) Existing law requires an original license for stewards and racing officials who are not licensed as track operators and every person who participates in, or has anything to do with, the racing of horses, to be issued for a period of the calendar year in which it is issued, and to be renewable for a period, not to exceed three years, which the board is authorized to establish by regulation.
This bill would instead require a license for the above-described persons to be issued for a period not to exceed 3 years, which the board would be authorized to establish by regulation.
(3) Existing law authorizes a thoroughbred racing association or fair to distribute the audiovisual signal and accept wagers on the results of out-of-state thoroughbred races conducted in the United States during the calendar period the association or fair is conducting a race meeting, including days on which there is no live racing being conducted by the association or fair, without the consent of the organization that represents horsemen and horsewomen participating in the race meeting and without regard to the amount of purses. Under that law, the total number of thoroughbred races imported by associations or fairs on a statewide basis under these provisions is prohibited from exceeding 50 races per day on days when live thoroughbred or fair racing is being conducted in the state, with the exception of prescribed races.
This bill would exempt from the 50 imported race per day limitation, races imported that are part of the race card of the Pegasus World Cup.
(4) Existing law requires the secretary and chief investigator of the board to coordinate a policy for the enforcement of specified horse racing laws and provides that they are peace officers for those purposes. Existing law provides that designated investigators of the board whose primary duty is enforcement of specified horse racing laws are peace officers.
This bill would instead require the executive director and chief of licensing and enforcement of the board to coordinate the above-described policy and provide that they are peace officers for those purposes. The bill would instead provide that the chief of licensing enforcement, supervising investigators, and investigators, whose primary duty is enforcement of those specified horse racing laws, including the federal Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act of 2020, are peace officers.

Statutes affected:
AB1768: 19596.2 BPC
03/22/23 - Introduced: 19596.2 BPC
06/05/24 - Amended Senate: 19515 BPC, 19521 BPC, 19596.2 BPC, 337.9 PEN, 830.3 PEN
08/31/24 - Enrolled: 19515 BPC, 19521 BPC, 19596.2 BPC, 337.9 PEN, 830.3 PEN
09/22/24 - Chaptered: 19515 BPC, 19521 BPC, 19596.2 BPC, 337.9 PEN, 830.3 PEN
AB 1768: 19596.2 BPC