(a) No organization license may be granted to conduct a horse race meeting: (1) except as provided in subsection (c) of Section 21 of this Act, to any person at any place within 35 miles of any other place licensed by the Board to hold a race meeting on the same date during the same hours, the mileage measurement used in this subsection (a) shall be certified to the Board by the Bureau of Systems and Services in the Illinois Department of Transportation as the most commonly used public way of vehicular travel;(2) to any person in default in the payment of any obligation or debt due the State under this Act, provided no applicant shall be deemed in default in the payment of any obligation or debt due to the State under this Act as long as there is pending a hearing of any kind relevant to such matter;(3) to any person who has been convicted of the violation of any law of the United States or any State law which provided as all or part of its penalty imprisonment in any penal institution; to any person against whom there is pending a Federal or State criminal charge; to any person who is or has been connected with or engaged in the operation of any illegal business; to any person who does not enjoy a general reputation in his community of being an honest, upright, law-abiding person; provided that none of the matters set forth in this subparagraph (3) shall make any person ineligible to be granted an organization license if the Board determines, based on circumstances of any such case, that the granting of a license would not be detrimental to the interests of horse racing and of the public;(4) to any person who does not at the time of application for the organization license own or have a contract or lease for the possession of a finished race track suitable for the type of racing intended to be held by the applicant and for the accommodation of the public.(c) If any person is ineligible to receive an organization license because of any of the matters set forth in subsection (a) (2) or subsection (a) (3) of this Section, any other or separate person that either (i) controls, directly or indirectly, such ineligible person or (ii) is controlled, directly or indirectly, by such ineligible person or by a person which controls, directly or indirectly, such ineligible person shall also be ineligible.Amended by P.A. 101-0031,§ 35-50, eff. 6/28/2019.P.A. 88-495; 89-16, eff. 5/30/1995.