To work a gaming job at a Colorado casino, you need a Colorado gaming support license from the state Division of Gaming before your first shift. The application fee is $75 if you use an approved outside fingerprint vendor, or $115 if the Division takes your prints. The license is good for two years, and approval depends on passing a background investigation and clearing the state’s criminal-history disqualifications.
Who Needs a Support License
A support license is required for every person employed in limited gaming and for all gaming employees. You cannot work for or assist any gaming licensee until you hold one.1Justia. Colorado Code 44-30-501 – Licenses – Types – Rules That covers dealers, cashiers, cage staff, surveillance, security, and most other positions inside a casino that touch gaming operations.
Limited gaming happens only in Black Hawk, Central City, and Cripple Creek. If you already hold a key employee license, you don’t need a separate support license; everyone else working a gaming role in those towns does.1Justia. Colorado Code 44-30-501 – Licenses – Types – Rules
Eligibility Requirements
Age and Lawful Presence
You must be at least 21 to hold a support license.2Department of Revenue – Specialized Business Group. Playing in a Casino – Gaming You also have to establish lawful presence in the United States, because a gaming license counts as a public benefit under Colorado law. Acceptable ID includes a valid Colorado driver’s license, a U.S. passport, a military ID, or a permanent resident card. Standard driver’s licenses from Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Nebraska, New Mexico, Utah, and Washington are not accepted on their own unless marked “enhanced” or presented with an original certified birth certificate.3Colorado Department of Revenue. Required Forms of Identification
Criminal History Disqualifications
Several categories of convictions mean an automatic denial. Answering yes to any of the following disqualifies you:4Department of Revenue – Specialized Business Group. Do I Qualify to Apply for a Gaming License?
- Any felony conviction related to gambling, at any point in your life.
- Any felony involving theft by deception, including embezzlement, fraud, scams, or con games, at any time.
- Any felony involving fraud or misrepresentation, including bad checks, forgery, perjury, tax fraud, welfare fraud, or false documentation, at any time.
- Any felony where you finished the sentence, including probation or parole, within the last ten years.
- Any misdemeanor gambling, theft-by-deception, or fraud sentence completed within the last ten years.
- Any professional gambling conviction, at any time.
- Being identified as a career offender or a member of a career offender cartel.
The Division runs an online screening tool that walks through each question before you pay anything. Use it. Application fees are non-refundable, and a denial on a disqualifier is predictable.
How to Apply
You can apply online through the Division’s portal or by mailing in the PDF application. The Division prefers online, but the process is the same.5Department of Revenue – Specialized Business Group. Apply for a Gaming Support License
Fingerprinting and Fees
Every applicant has to be fingerprinted, and your choice of provider sets your fee:5Department of Revenue – Specialized Business Group. Apply for a Gaming Support License
- If the Division of Gaming does your prints, the new-license fee is $115.
- If you use an approved outside vendor, the Division fee drops to $75, and you pay the vendor separately for the fingerprinting itself.
All of these fees are non-refundable.6Department of Revenue – Specialized Business Group. License Fees
What Happens After You File
The Division runs a background investigation covering criminal history, financial review, and identity verification. The Division publishes a 60-to-90-day window for key employee applications; it doesn’t publish a specific timeline for support licenses, which generally involve less extensive review.7Department of Revenue – Specialized Business Group. Apply for a Gaming Key License Plan on several weeks at minimum.
If you mail your application, send photocopies of your ID documents but keep the originals. You’ll have to present them in person when you pick up your license ID badge.3Colorado Department of Revenue. Required Forms of Identification
A support license is one of six license types the Limited Gaming Control Commission issues. The others cover key employees, retail establishments, operators, slot machine manufacturers and distributors, and associated equipment suppliers; those are separate licenses with their own requirements, and the support license does not substitute for any of them.1Justia. Colorado Code 44-30-501 – Licenses – Types – Rules
Renewal and Ongoing Duties
A support license expires two years from the date it was issued.1Justia. Colorado Code 44-30-501 – Licenses – Types – Rules The Division needs your renewal application at least 30 days before that expiration date.8Department of Revenue – Specialized Business Group. Renew a Vendor Minor License The renewal fee for a support employee license is $70.6Department of Revenue – Specialized Business Group. License Fees
Renewal is not automatic. You submit updated personal information and go through another background check, and any license fees or taxes owed must be paid by the day your current license expires.9Justia. Colorado Code 44-30-518 – Renewal of Licenses
Between renewals, you have reporting duties. You must notify the Division of Gaming whenever you are arrested or go to court.5Department of Revenue – Specialized Business Group. Apply for a Gaming Support License People miss this one, and it turns small matters into licensing problems. Changes in employment status should also be reported. If something in your background changes mid-cycle, such as a new conviction, the Commission can revoke the license for any reason that would have blocked it from being issued originally.10Justia. Colorado Code 44-30-524 – Suspension or Revocation of License – Grounds – Penalties
What a Violation Costs
Making a false statement on your application, giving misleading information to the Commission or Division, falsifying records tied to gaming activities, or knowingly violating any provision of the Limited Gaming Act is a Class 5 felony in Colorado, carrying one to three years in prison and fines from $1,000 to $100,000.11Colorado Public Law. CRS 44-30-802 – False Statement on Application The statute sweeps broadly and reaches more than outright lies.
The Commission can also suspend or revoke any gaming license and impose monetary penalties. For a support license holder, the fine ceiling is $2,500 per violation.10Justia. Colorado Code 44-30-524 – Suspension or Revocation of License – Grounds – Penalties
Working without a license is one of the easier violations for inspectors to catch. The statute is explicit that no person required to hold a support license may work for or assist any gaming licensee until they have one.1Justia. Colorado Code 44-30-501 – Licenses – Types – Rules Doing so is a knowing violation of the Act, which puts it in Class 5 felony territory. Individuals found complicit in serious violations such as fraud may also be barred from any future gaming license in Colorado.