More than 300 charities have received permits for bingo in Walker County since 2007, a fact that makes Bucky Rizzo shake his head. “It’s not that we think some aren’t charities — we know some aren’t charities,” said Rizzo, chairman of the Walker County Political Accountability Coalition, explaining that many of the “charities” aren’t qualified and are committing fraud.
And it all stems from electronic charity bingo gambling.
“We (coalition members) are opposed to the bingo slot machines,” Rizzo said.
So the coalition went on a mission in October to get the permit applications of all the bingo charities from Walker County Sheriff John Mark Tirey, thinking if it got the applications, then it could find out if the “charities” legitimately met the requirements.
“We could find out if they have owned the property for at least 60 months, which is required (to receive charity bingo proceeds). We could find out who’s getting the money and where the money is going,” Rizzo said.
Out of the 300-plus applications, the coalition was handed only four. Four down, several hundred to go. “We want to dry up the source of the bingo gambling,” Rizzo said.
So the coalition went to court, filing a motion to gain access to the rest of the charities’ applications so it can “determine whether organizations, which had been issued permits, actually qualified under the law to have such permits issued to them.”
The motion noted an order from Jefferson County Circuit Judge Robert S. Vance has prevented the sheriff from releasing the applications without a court order. Vance was assigned four cases dealing with electronic bingo gambling in Walker County after all local judges recused themselves and another judge who had been assigned to the case abruptly resigned after holding hearings.
At a March 26 hearing in Birmingham, Jasper attorney Charlie Waits, representing the coalition, argued that the documents should be released under the state’s open records laws and Vance said he may need to clarify his order so that it does not conflict with those laws.
After the hearing, Walker County District Attorney Charles Baker said he feels confident an agreement can be reached for the applications to be released with slight editing to delete personal information. “It appears it will be worked out between the parties. I don’t see a big issue here,” Baker said. “Some of the charities may object, but I look for the judge to amend his order and to allow this information to be disseminated.”
Lawyers for charities argued the coalition could get the information elsewhere.
For instance, a list of the charities, the bingo halls they are assigned to and when their permits expire is on display in a courthouse basement hallway outside the office of the county’s bingo compliance officer. But no paper copies of the list are allowed to be distributed, and the displayed list is under glass. Also extensive research would have to be done to find out more than just the three items noted on the list.
Vance moved to allow briefs to be filed against the motion made on behalf of the coalition through April 3. The court has agreed to allow bingo operations to continue until it can be determined whether electronic gambling is legal in Walker County.
It is a move Jasper attorney Herbie Brewer, who represents some bingo charities and operators, said has let many “good charities” bring in funds for services they otherwise wouldn’t get. The coalition, however, seems set on upsetting that agreement by finding charities that do not meet requirements, he said. “They are going to destroy schools, little leagues. They are going to destroy some churches,” Brewer said of the coalition. “They say they are for the community, but what they are really for is enforcing their own views onto everybody else.”
While he said it may turn out to be true that some charities may not meet all the requirements — for example, schools do not own land as required — Brewer agrees with the court’s position that no charity should be stripped of its permit until a final ruling is made.
Brewer said he hopes in time the debate will lead to a more decisive definition of a charity and rules to govern electronic gambling. “We currently, truthfully, have no resolution to control bingo in this county whatsoever,” he said. (Ed Howell contributed)
Share with others: