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Walker County: Circuit Court Judge Robert Vance is chipping away at Walker County’s ongoing electronic bingo gambling lawsuit. On Oct. 13, he began hearing evidence to determine whether electronic bingo gambling is legal in the county. The hearing ended Oct. 15 and lawyers were ordered to sum up their cases by Oct. 23.
According to the Daily Mountain Eagle, Vance said if electronic games are ruled legal, he will begin addressing the legality of the bingo machines used to play the games.
“We will do this in an effort to help keep us from getting overwhelmed,” Vance said. “We will keep it simple for this week and focus on the first court issue — whether electronic bingo is permissible.”
Witnesses in the three-day hearing included Bob Sertell, a gambling expert from New Jersey, who reportedly said the machines are consistent with those found in casinos.
“In order for the game commonly known as bingo to be played, it must be played by a human player,” Sertell noted. “These games now are played so fast there is no way a human could follow along to play it. It only [takes] a maximum of 6.5 seconds to play a game on one of these machines.”
At press time, Vance was expected to enter an order Oct. 26.
Jefferson County: Three days before Sheriff Mike Hale was set to enforce Jefferson County’s new electronic bingo gambling rules Oct. 9, the City of Fairfield filed litigation against him and District Attorney Brandon Falls. Now plans to implement the law have been delayed.
“There will be no enforcement action taken until this pending litigation has been settled and there is clear direction from the courts on what enforcement action is proper and how the bingo laws specific to Jefferson County are interpreted,” said Randy Christian of the sheriff’s department.
Hale released his regulations Sept. 8 and delivered to operators Sept. 10 limiting electronic bingo gambling to five-hour sessions two days per week, but leaders in several municipalities soon questioned his authority to regulate electronic bingo games in their areas.
Fairfield City Attorney Michael Trucks said the lawsuit was filed “to protect the city ordinance and the sovereignty of the City of Fairfield.”
“We believe the ordinance complies with the constitutional amendment,” Trucks added.
According to Christian, court actions have also been filed by attorneys in Birmingham and Bessemer Cut-Off Divisions representing establishments in unincorporated Jefferson County.
At press time, Circuit Court Judge Eugene Verin was assigned the case.
“We have no hope that this issue will ever be resolved by the state Legislature and believe it is absolutely proper for these issues to be decided in a court of law,” Christian noted.
Birmingham: Electronic bingo gambling took a hit in Birmingham recently when several city council members said they would vote Oct. 20 to rescind the city’s electronic bingo gambling ordinance and re-establish the law that allowed for paper bingo, according to The Birmingham News.
On Oct. 15, the Birmingham council members met to talk about strengthening the electronic bingo gambling ordinance they approved in June, but four of the six present resolved to terminate electronic games altogether, the News reported.
Until pending court cases on electronic bingo gambling is settled, council members said they would refund fees dozens of electronic bingo gambling applicants have already paid.
“We just need to reel in this turkey until we know for certain if it’s legal or not,” Councilwoman Valerie Abbott, a consistent critic of electronic bingo halls. “We passed our ordinance without knowing what was going to happen.”
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