(a) A card-minding system must not be sold, leased, or otherwise furnished to any person for use in the conduct of bingo until it has first been tested and certified as compliant with the standards in this subchapter by an independent testing facility or the Commission's own testing lab. The card-minding system shall be submitted for testing at the manufacturer's expense. The testing facility should be required to ensure that the card-minding system conforms to the restrictions and conditions set forth in these standards. The approval process is set forth in subsections (b) - (f) of this section.
(b) Utilizing an Independent Testing Facility:
  (1) Manufacturer submits system to lab with letter outlining the card-minding system to be tested for approval in Texas;
  (2) Lab performs validation testing to ensure compliance with the Commission's requirements. Testing may include functional testing and/or modification testing, if applicable;
  (3) Lab creates certification report which includes file verification methodology, software/firmware signatures (checksum) and testing results;
  (4) Manufacturer submits approval request with certification report to the Commission;
  (5) Once the Commission has received the certification report from the independent testing facility, the Commission may request a demonstration of the product; and
  (6) The Commission shall either approve or disapprove the submission based on the test results and inform the manufacturer and lab of the results within thirty (30) calendar days of receipt of the test results.
(c) Utilizing the Commission's testing lab:
  (1) Manufacturer has card-minding system ready for submission;
  (2) Manufacturer submits system to Commission with letter outlining system specifics;
  (3) Testing lab may request a demonstration of the system prior to testing;
  (4) Lab performs validation testing to ensure compliance with Commission's requirements. This testing may include functional testing and/or modification testing, if applicable;
  (5) Lab communicates with manufacturer on any questions arising from testing;
  (6) Lab recommends approval or denial of the system within forty-five (45) calendar days from submission date; and
  (7) The Commission issues an approval or denial letter to the manufacturer which includes software/firmware signatures (checksum).
(d) After the Commission approves a card-minding system, the manufacturer shall notify the Commission of the date, time and place of the first installation of the system so that a Commission representative may observe and review the card-minding system.
(e) Checksum or digital signatures will be obtained from the proprietary software submitted for testing to be used to verify that proprietary software at playing locations is the same as the software that was approved.
(f) The decision by the director to approve or disapprove any component of a card-minding system is administratively final.
(g) The manufacturer shall be responsible for the costs related to the testing of card-minding systems to include the fees charged by independent testing facilities or the Commission testing lab.
(h) The manufacturer shall be responsible for the travel costs incurred by the Commission to audit the initial installation of a card-minding system in the state of Texas.
(i) All card-minding system approvals issued by the Commission prior to the effective date of this section remain valid. Any subsequent changes or modifications to an approved system require compliance with this section.

Source Note: The provisions of this §402.324 adopted to be effective July 1, 2012, 37 TexReg 4905; amended to be effective August 1, 2016, 41 TexReg 5505