Game machines near a school: the 200 meters and the class-hours rule

It is a short school-protection law with a number you can measure: two hundred meters. And it carries something many distance laws do not: it says exactly how the distance is measured, and what happens with businesses that were already there.

Anyone in the school community or neighborhood who wants to verify compliance. The prohibition applies to establishments operating electronic game machines or “Pin Ball” machines that run on coins or tokens, with respect to public or private schools.

• That they be electronic game machines or “Pin Ball” machines that run on coins or tokens.Verified against the official source
• That the establishment be less than two hundred (200) meters from a public or private school, measured from the nearest point of the school lot’s outer boundary to the premises’ outer boundary.Verified against the official source

Information pending verification.

1. 1

   Step 1: Two hundred meters, and this is how they are measured

   The law leaves the method to nobody’s discretion: the measurement “shall be taken from the nearest point of the outer boundary of the lot occupied by the school to the outer boundary of the premises occupied by the establishment.” It is not door to door or from the center of the building: it is outer boundary to outer boundary, at the nearest point.

2. 2

   Step 2: The school may be public or private

   The text says it without distinction: “less than two hundred (200) meters from a public or private school.” You do not have to find out who owns the school for the rule to apply.

3. 3

   Step 3: If the business was already there, the rule changes shape

   The law does not order them shut, but synchronized with the school. Establishments dedicated exclusively to operating such machines that were already located closer “shall remain closed during the operating hours of the school in whose proximity they are found.” That is: closed while classes are in session.

4. 4

   Step 4: And if it is another kind of business with machines inside

   That one does not close, but turns the machines off: establishments in another line of business where coin- or token-operated electronic game or “Pin Ball” machines are located, and that were already situated closer, “may not operate or allow those machines to be operated during the school’s operating hours.” The corner store stays open; the machines do not.

5. 5

   Step 5: Each violation counts separately

   Anyone who violates the law’s provisions commits a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be punished with a fine not exceeding five hundred (500) dollars. And the law adds the phrase that multiplies: “Each violation shall constitute a distinct and separate offense.”

6. 6

   Step 6: What to note if you are going to report it

   The approximate boundary-to-boundary distance, the establishment’s name and address, the reference school, the type of machines and whether they run on coins or tokens, and the hours you saw them operating against the school schedule. As it is a misdemeanor, the route is a report to the Puerto Rico Police, which we cover in its own guide.

The law designates no overseeing agency and creates no complaint procedure; it establishes the prohibition and the offense. So the practical route is a report to the Puerto Rico Police. If the matter is safety inside the school, that is the school safety guide; if it is the business’s use permit, that is the OGPe route with its own guides.

• Measuring door to door: the law measures outer boundary to outer boundary, at the nearest point.
• Assuming it covers only public schools: the text says public or private.
• Believing a pre-existing business is exempt: it must close, or turn the machines off, during class hours.
• Extending the law to devices that do not run on coins or tokens: the text is from 1982 and uses that qualifier.
• Reporting without noting the hours: the pre-existing establishments’ violation depends on the school schedule.
• Expecting a large fine: it shall not exceed five hundred dollars, though each violation is a separate offense.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Policía de Puerto Rico

  Policía de PR

  bvirtualogp.pr.gov

• Puerto Rico Police

  Policía de Puerto Rico

  policia.pr.gov