Gov.-elect Bentley gives authority over task force on illegal gambling to attorney general

By Sondra Washington

In a surprise move, Gov.-elect Robert Bentley recently announced he will transfer all authority over the Governor’s Task Force on Illegal Gambling to the attorney general upon entering office Jan. 17.

Before his election, Bentley said he would disband the task force, a move that allowed casino owners to hope and speculate about whether he would tolerate them reopening their electronic slot machine-style gambling facilities closed by the task force last year.

Since Bentley has changed his mind, casino owners may have to think again.

“By assigning all pending cases and investigative authority to the attorney general’s office, I have transferred the primary responsibility for ensuring that Alabama’s gambling laws are enforced statewide to Attorney General-elect Luther Strange,” he said in a Dec. 29 press release. “I will fully support Attorney General Luther Strange in his efforts to enforce the laws of Alabama, including laws against illegal gambling. … Attorney General Strange will follow the law on gambling, and he will have my full support.”

The task force was originally formed by Gov. Bob Riley on Dec. 29, 2008, through Executive Order No. 44 to investigate electronic bingo operations to determine if the machines were legal. David Barber, retired district attorney for Jefferson County, was appointed commander of the task force. He resigned in January 2010 after he and his wife went to a Mississippi casino and won a $2,300 jackpot. Mobile County District Attorney John Tyson replaced him Jan. 25, 2010.

Tyson was successful in closing down all major operations in the state.

Now Strange will be the one enforcing the state’s gambling laws, and he has already issued a warning to anyone planning to break them.

“I intend to enforce the rule of law as it is written and in strict accordance with the decisions of the Alabama Supreme Court,” Strange said in the press release.

According to news reports, at least one of the state’s largest casinos — Country Crossing in Houston County — planned to reopen this month despite federal indictments issued against owner Ronnie Gilley, gambling magnate Milton McGregor, several gambling lobbyists and four legislators a few months ago for an alleged vote-buying scheme in the Alabama Statehouse. The group is accused of using illegal methods to convince other legislators to legalize slot machine-style gambling across the state.

But reopening could subject the casino to further law enforcement actions.

The press release stated, “Gov.-elect Bentley and Attorney General-elect Strange said gambling establishments now closed under threat of raid by the task force should not mistake today’s announcement as a signal to open their casinos. It simply means the attorney general will be the officer at the statewide level taking primary responsibility for investigating and prosecuting those that own, operate or house illegal gambling machines.”

Country Crossing’s attorney Sam Cherry told the Dothan Eagle he hopes to be able to work with Strange to come to a definitive ruling on the legality of electronic bingo and whether the casino’s machines are legal.

According to the press release, Bentley and Strange said, “the state’s legal position for the enforcement of Alabama’s prohibition of slot machines as it relates to so-called ‘electronic bingo’ will continue to be as follows:

• Any machine that meets the definition of a slot machine or gambling device pursuant to Sections 13A-12-20 (5) and (10) of the Code of Alabama (1975) will be seized, gambling proceeds will be seized, forfeiture actions will be pursued and any persons who are in the possession of illegal slot machines or who are promoting illegal gambling will be prosecuted, period.
• Absolutely no constitutional amendment in the state of Alabama authorizes the use of machines that accept cash or credit and then dispense cash-value prizes based upon chance. Machines with those features are slot machines and are not made legal by any bingo amendment. Likewise no local bingo rule, regulation or ordinance can legally authorize slot machines.
• The six factors defining bingo laid out by the Alabama Supreme Court in the Cornerstone case (concerning Lowndes County) will be applied strictly. Those factors cannot be changed, diluted, waived, redefined or reinterpreted by local rule, local regulation or local definitions, nor through purported certifications from a gaming laboratory.
• The attorney general’s office will provide guidance to prosecutors after the transition, but the operators of gambling establishments throughout our state should clearly understand the legal position of the state of Alabama moving forward beginning on Jan. 17, 2011.”