Opinion No. (1977)

REQUESTED BY: Ronald D. Lahners, Lancaster County Attorney, Lincoln, Nebraska. Are punchboards to be considered a form of gambling prohibited by state statutes or are those devices exempt under the lottery laws or other statutes?

A punchboard scheme is a lottery and as such is made illegal by section 28-964.01, R.R.S. 1943, unless specifically authorized by sections 28-964.01 to 28-964.05, R.R.S. 1943.

Section 24, Article III, of the Nebraska Constitution, prior to 1968, prohibited the Legislature from authorizing games of chance or lotteries wherein consideration was required. In 1968, the…