New Jersey lawmakers are considering changing how the state penalizes underage gambling. Under Senate Bill 597, gambling at a licensed casino or simulcasting facility while under 21 would no longer be treated as a disorderly persons offense. Instead, violations would carry civil fines that increase for repeat offenses. The proposal would also change the penalties for casino employees who knowingly allow an underage person to gamble and adults who permit someone under their care to do so.
Current New Jersey law treats underage gambling at casinos and simulcasting facilities as a disorderly persons offense. S597 would replace that criminal penalty with a civil fine of up to $500 for a first offense, $1,000 for a second offense, and $2,000 for each subsequent violation.
The same penalty structure would apply to casino licensees or employees who knowingly allow someone under 21 to gamble. Adults who knowingly permit a minor under their care or custody to gamble would also face civil penalties.
The change would still leave consequences in place for underage gambling, but it would remove the criminal component of the offense.
Money collected from the civil fines would not simply go into general state spending.
The bill directs those penalties to New Jersey’s General Fund for allocation to the Department of Human Services. The funding would be used for compulsive gambling prevention, including education and treatment programs.
That adds a responsible gambling component to the proposal, with money generated by violations going back toward services designed to prevent and address gambling-related harm.
The proposal also fits with New Jersey’s broader focus on responsible gaming.
State gaming authorities have previously pushed for stronger responsible gaming protocols, including measures designed to identify risky behaviour earlier and give operators clearer responsibilities when interacting with customers showing signs of gambling harm.
That history makes the funding element of S597 especially notable. Rather than simply replacing criminal penalties with fines, the bill would direct that money toward prevention, demonstrating a proactive approach to addressing problem gambling.
The New Jersey proposal comes as lawmakers elsewhere are also looking at ways to prevent minors from accessing gambling.
At the federal level, lawmakers introduced legislation earlier this year that would require online sportsbooks and prediction markets to use facial recognition as an additional form of age verification. The facial recognition bill is aimed in part at preventing minors from using betting accounts belonging to parents or other adults.
The two proposals take different approaches. The federal legislation focuses on preventing underage users from gaining access to online betting platforms, while New Jersey’s S597 deals with the penalties imposed after an underage gambling violation occurs.
These two examples show how lawmakers are looking at both prevention and enforcement as concerns around youth gambling continue to receive more attention.
