Boardman officials plan regulation of township’s Internet cafes

Boardman officials plan regulation of township’s Internet cafes

By Ashley Luthern

aluthern@vindy.com

BOARDMAN

Township trustees are expected at their meeting Monday to have a first reading of a resolution to regulate Internet sweepstakes cafes.

The township ordinance would complement state regulations on the Internet sweepstakes cafes, officials said. In June, Gov. John Kasich signed a year-long moratorium on new sweepstakes cafes in Ohio.

The cafes are allowed to offer skill-based machines under state law and prizes are supposed to be limited to merchandise with a wholesale value of less than $10, according to Vindicator archives.

The Ohio Attorney General’s office reported that eight cafes in Boardman have registered with the state, said township Administrator Jason Loree.

“We want to require them to post sweepstakes odds and undergo testing from private companies to prove that what they’re doing is sweepstakes and not slots. We’ll require an age limit of 18 to go into a cafe,” Loree said.

Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com.