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Houston County: The developers of Country Crossing, the sprawling entertainment complex and gambling center proposed for Houston County, plan to hold its grand opening Dec. 1, according to the project’s official blog site, http://countrycrossingprogress.blogspot.com.
Initially the developers expected to complete the first phase of the project in June 2009.
Progress is reported on several buildings, including the highly contested 1,500-machine electronic bingo gambling pavilion.
Jerry Grandstaff, director of missions for Columbia Baptist Association (which serves Houston County), said gambling opponents are in a holding pattern while the developers move to complete the project. “It looks like if the Alabama Supreme Court doesn’t rule that the machines are illegal, it will come to fruition in Houston County,” he said of electronic gambling. “I don’t see anything stopping it short of a court order.”
Governor’s Task Force: Like officials in several Alabama counties, Gov. Bob Riley’s Task Force on Illegal Gambling is waiting on an Alabama Supreme Court order or opinion before taking further steps to rid the state of electronic bingo gambling.
In March, the task force raided White Hall Entertainment Center in Lowndes County, seizing 105 bingo machines and more than $560,000. But Judge Mark Kennedy, a former Alabama Supreme Court justice who was initially appointed to the case, issued a temporary restraining order banning the task force from going back into the facility. Kennedy’s order was issued on the grounds that the bingo hall and machine owners could “reasonably expect a favorable ruling based on the merits of the case.”
Task force leader David Barber and his team disagreed and appealed the restraining order.
Many of the machines in the White Hall facility are made by Bally’s, one of the world’s largest slot machine manufacturers.
The Birmingham News reported July 9 that lawyers for Bally’s said Attorney General Troy King told company representatives to rely on his 2004 findings “when considering participation in Alabama.”
His findings, which say electronic bingo gambling could be legal in Alabama, have been used by several counties as they begin or expand electronic gambling.
But uniformly enforcing Alabama’s gambling laws is not as easy as it sounds, King recently said on his campaign Facebook page. He also said he will “continue to push to allow the people to vote and settle this matter once and for all.”
Riley’s press secretary Todd Stacy said, “These slot machines are spreading like an epidemic across Alabama now because Attorney General King says they are legal.”
And while the White Hall case will not directly determine the legality of bingo machines used around the state, Barber said a positive ruling from the Supreme Court “would give law enforcement and task enforcement agencies some guidance across the state on whether or not these [machines] are likely to be found as gambling devices or slot machines.
“The legal implications would be that they are saying these are illegal slot machines,” he said.
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. (TAB)
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