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Walker County: Circuit Court Judge Robert Vance ordered six Walker County electronic bingo gambling facilities to shut their doors by Aug. 28 after evidence revealed illegal operations. Vance had previously ordered bingo gambling hall operators in the area to file information with the court to determine if they were following the law. After reviewing the submissions, Vance said some appeared to comply with the law while others did not.
The illegal facilities included It’s Your Lucky Day Charitable Bingo, Dreams Come True Charity Bingo, Walker County Bingo, Carbon Hill Bingo, Blackwater Bingo and Ba Da Bingo. In a separate order, Vance immediately shut down Magic Touch Charity Bingo, which was operating as Warrior River Bingo Mania, for not filing the required paperwork by the Aug. 14 deadline. Each closed facility was to be padlocked.
In his initial order, Vance said Department of Veterans of Foreign Wars, Creekside Charity Bingo and Shadowbrook Walker Bingo appeared to be following the law. He added that Highway 5 Charity Bingo and Highway 78 Charity Bingo had recently completed “some clever and very recent maneuvering” and now seemed to comply with the law.
Since some operations could remain open and others could not, Vance acknowledged that some people may regard his ruling as unfair. Still he said there was no alternative to his actions.
“To be legal under Alabama law, bingo operations must comply with … specific prerequisites,” he wrote. “While some might regard [these] as unfair technicalities, they exist nonetheless and must be followed.”
Vance said he planned to review additional evidence to ensure legal compliance with other portions of the law not included in his initial request. An evidentiary hearing is set for Oct. 13.
Etowah County: Another Branson, Mo.-style facility is being planned for Alabama — this one developed by the Cherokees of Alabama and to be located in Etowah County. Recently the group announced plans to create a $400 million “shopping district” on the 103-acre River Trace Golf Course. The property, recently purchased from shareholders for $13.1 million, will include “upscale, sit-down” restaurants; retail space; and a 90,000-square-foot entertainment center.
While the group plans to offer paper bingo, electronic bingo may be offered in the future if it is ruled legal in the county, according to Joe Huddleston, tribal special projects manager and a real estate agent.
“Paper is all we can do,” Huddleston said, adding the group is not depending on bingo to fund the project. “We feel this shopping center will support the tribe, and we will have sufficient money to do our charity work. We are basing it on what we can do right now.”
According to The Gadsden Times, Huddleston said the group will purchase equipment for paper bingo and lease out the clubhouse auditorium to nonprofit groups who would like to have sessions there.
According to the Etowah County Sheriff’s Office, no bingo permit applications had been received at press time from the Cherokees of Alabama or anyone seeking to play bingo at the golf course. Earlier, the Pilot Club, a nonprofit group in the area, applied for a permit to play paper games at the golf course but reneged. The Times reported that Huddleston, a former member of the Pilot Club, filed the application.
When The Alabama Baptist asked him if there are plans to use the space for electronic bingo games, he said it “could be anything.”
Huddleston added, “All of this is subject to change because there is quite a bit of room for change.”
The Cherokees of Alabama are still waiting to be federally recognized as a tribe.
Argo: Plans to bring electronic bingo gambling to Argo appear to be at a standstill while the Alabama Supreme Court decides if it is legal in St. Clair County. But Mayor Paul Jennings and some council members are considering offering electronic gambling in the Jefferson County portion of the town. Even the Argo Town Hall building is not off-limits.
“We are considering moving (the Town Hall offices) to the new (multipurpose) building and renting this building out,” Jennings said. “All of this is hypothetical. Things could change next week.”
He e-mailed a proposed bingo ordinance concerning the Jefferson County portion of Argo from Hugh Holladay, the town’s attorney, to council members Aug. 10. As of press time, not all of the members had responded yet.
“We have got to make some stiff decisions,” Jennings said, referring to his methods for solving Argo’s debt crisis. “I’m going to do what’s best for the town. … We do have someone here that wants to put a legal form of bingo here, and I think we’re a fool for not taking advantage of a business decision. … We can’t survive without it now and pay for the previous administration’s faults.”
Two of the entities proposing the Argo venture have facilities in Walker County. One of the groups, Alabama Fraternal Bingo, is linked to John McLeod, who owns Ba Da Bingo in Jasper, which was shut down recently (see Walker County update). Initially McLeod had planned to open a 1,500-machine electronic bingo gambling facility in the St. Clair County side of Argo.
Jennings insists that any electronic bingo gambling facility in Argo would be legal.
“We are not going to go with anything illegal,” he said. “If Jefferson County is still allowing them, then it must be legal.”
Joe Basgier, Jefferson County’s deputy district attorney, said the question is not whether the county allows electronic bingo gambling but if the operation complies with state and local laws. “The law says that charitable bingo is legal in certain circumstances,” he said.
Poarch Band of Creek Indians: The Poarch Band of Creek Indians is entering the dog racing business. The group, which currently owns electronic bingo gambling facilities in Atmore, Wetumpka and Montgomery, recently paid $16 million for a 65 percent controlling stake in the Mobile and Pensacola, Fla., dog racing tracks.
Robert McGhee, the tribe’s governmental relations adviser, said the deal emerged when “someone mentioned that the dog tracks were interested in teaming up with the tribe.”
As it stands, the tribe will not bring its electronic gambling operations to the Mobile Greyhound Park since McGhee said Mobile County’s bingo laws only permit paper games. But the tribe is not ruling out the addition of the games in the future.
“If something does happen where gambling is expanded in the state, we wanted to have a partnership with the dog tracks … because of the close proximity … and to protect the interest of the tribe instead of being in direct competition,” McGhee said.
The tribe is awaiting approval from the Mobile County Racing Commission.
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