Worried about being taken by some slick carney at the Iowa State Fair? State officials try to ensure that doesn’t happen. Kevin Techau directs the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals, which checks out all the barkers who invite fairgoers to try their skills at winning a prize.They must see that the games are fair and involve some element of skill on the player’s part. Workforce employees fanned out across the midway to inspect the rides, and Techau says another state agency was also at work as the fair got underway.He says the Department of Criminal Investigation’s responsible for making sure the games don’t cross the line to be games of chance like dice. Techau says they don’t find a lot of problems.Techau says many operators make the rounds of local and county fairs, so operators are bound to run into the inspectors some time. He says that means unscrupulous operators don’t make it very far and the good ones continue.
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