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St. Clair County — Ashville: Alabama’s Supreme Court approved a motion to stay St. Clair Circuit Judge Charles E. Robinson’s ruling allowing electronic bingo gambling in the area. As a result, electronic bingo games are prohibited in Ashville and, according to some sources, the rest of St. Clair County until the high court rules on the legality of electronic games in the area.
Sheriff Terry Surles and District Attorney Richard Minor both filed for an emergency stay one day after Robinson’s ruling. Attorney General Troy King filed a similar request.
In his motion, Surles offered several reasons for his request, including the trial court creating “its own definition of bingo” and giving the “gambling interests” too much leeway in proving the legality of the machines.
“The trial court has severely hindered Sheriff Surles’ ability to apprehend violators of Alabama’s anti-gambling statutes and seize evidence of those crimes with its certification mechanism,” the motion reads.
After Robinson’s ruling, the American Legion Post 170 in Ashville began operating about 250 electronic bingo gambling machines, making more than $20,000 daily.
According to The St. Clair Times, an expert witness was scheduled to test and inspect the electronic bingo machines at the American Legion on June 18 but that was canceled.
St. Clair County — Argo: Mayor Paul Jennings and Roadhouse Gaming Systems owner John McLeod have differing opinions about the future of electronic bingo gambling in the St. Clair County town.
Jennings believes Argo might have missed its opportunity to offer electronic bingo gambling since no permit applications had been received more than two weeks after council members passed an ordinance allowing the games.
“I am disappointed that we don’t have someone already signed in,” Jennings said. “If we would have passed this when we should have passed it back in February or March, we would have already received the $500,000 from the business license. … We are not the hot commodity that we were last year, and now we are paying for it. We had a good location until Birmingham passed theirs (ordinance). This drag-tailing around is what has hurt us.”
Still McLeod said he plans to open his temporary facility to be called The Roadhouse at Argo by June 26 at what he described as the Lee Springs property “down the road” from where land was cleared and advertised as the “future home of charity bingo.” He said his facility will house 150 machines.
“I met with my architect [June 15],” McLeod said. “I’ve got people who are working 10 hours a day, seven days a week. … Our attorneys have been in contact with Hugh Holladay (town attorney). They are drafting the final contract as we speak. We have already got a list of charities in St. Clair County. A total of 12 charities will divide initially $50,000 a month.”
Jennings said, “Talk is real cheap. I’ll say something when someone hands (us) a check. As it stands now, we’ve just had a lot of talk.”
Although McLeod admitted June 17 he had not submitted a permit application, he said he plans to be a “good corporate member of the community.”
“I think I was a gentleman throughout this whole process,” McLeod said. “I never slung mud and I never tried to cast [aspersions] on anyone. When you are used to winning, you don’t have to do that. You just focus on the task at hand. … If I was going to finish second in a two-horse race, there is nobody I would rather finish behind than me.”
Etowah County: Another group may be planning to open an electronic bingo gambling facility in Etowah County in the near future. According to The Gadsden Times, a “group, which calls itself Cherokees of Alabama,” is seeking federal recognition as an Indian tribe and recently met with Sheriff Todd Entrekin to get “information about an electronic bingo permit” for the River Trace Golf Course property it purchased in east Gadsden.
EDITOR’S NOTE — As a way to consistently monitor electronic bingo gambling issues across the state, The Alabama Baptist will provide updates such as these each week.
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