New Jersey Bill Would Swap Criminal Underage Gambling Penalties For Fines

New Jersey lawmakers have introduced companion bills, Assembly Bill A1822 and Senate Bill S597, that would decriminalise underage gambling at the state's regulated New Jersey casino industry, replacing criminal charges with a tiered schedule of civil fines rising to $2,000, with the proceeds earmarked for gambling addiction treatment.

Under the state's current law, Section 119 of the Casino Control Act (P.L.1977, c.110), anyone under the legal drinking age who enters or wagers at a licensed casino or simulcasting facility, and any casino licensee or employee who knowingly lets them do so, commits a disorderly persons offense punishable by a fine of $500 to $1,000. 

The bills would strike that criminal penalty entirely and replace it with a civil penalty enforced through the state's Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999 rather than the criminal courts.

A Tiered Fine Schedule

Under the proposed language, first-time violators would face a civil penalty of up to $500, rising to up to $1,000 for a second offense and up to $2,000 for a third or any subsequent offense. 

The bills' synopsis states that all fines collected would be used specifically to fund gambling addiction treatment programmes, rather than going into New Jersey's general treasury as the existing criminal fines currently do.

The measure applies equally to casino employees and licensees who allow an underage patron to remain in or wager at a gaming floor or simulcasting facility, exposing them to the same civil penalty scale as the underage gambler. 

Employees would retain a defense already written into the underlying law if they can show the patron presented false written proof of age, or that their appearance and behaviour would have led an ordinarily prudent person to believe they were of legal age.

Bipartisan Sponsorship

S597 is sponsored by Senators James Beach and Vincent Polistina, with co-sponsors Nellie Pou, Turner and McKeon, according to the bill text filed with the New Jersey Legislature. 

It was pre-filed for introduction as part of the 222nd Legislature's 2026-2027 session, alongside its Assembly companion, A1822. 

Neither bill has yet cleared a committee vote, and both would need to pass the Assembly, the Senate and be signed by the governor before the new civil penalty structure could take effect, replacing the disorderly persons offense that has applied since the Casino Control Act's original 1977 enactment.

New Jersey's Atlantic City casinos and their partner online platforms already carry age-verification requirements at the point of entry and account registration, and the shift to civil penalties would not change those existing identification checks, only how the state responds after the fact when an underage person is caught on a gaming floor.

Civil penalties under the Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999 are pursued through the state's Division of Gaming Enforcement rather than a county prosecutor, a route lawmakers say is faster and better suited to a first-time entry violation than a criminal disorderly persons charge, which can carry longer-lasting consequences for a young person's record even when no money changes hands.