Some of the laws describe the game that can be played for charity fund raising as bingo played on cards, but they don’t say that the cards have to be tangible. Could the cards appear on a monitor such as those found on electronic gambling machines?
Where bingo has been legalized, the law clearly states it must be for charity, but who ensures the charities are real and that they are receiving their money? How much money must go to charity to stay within the law? And whatever happened to charities running their own bingo operations instead of for-profit businesses running the operations and tossing a few dollars to a charity?
What about the laws that say bingo can only be operated for a charity for five hours a week, yet the facility runs six days a week, sometimes seven?
That one’s easy — the bingo operators line up about 30 charities and stay within the five-hour-per-week law. They operate for charity No. 1 for the first five hours, then charity No. 2 for the second five hours, charity No. 3 for the third five hours and so on.
Why is electronic gambling so complicated? Shouldn’t there be an easy answer?
Eric Johnston, Birmingham attorney and adviser to some who are fighting the gambling epidemic invading Alabama, said it takes reviewing the history of gambling in the state to understand the issue. (See Johnston’s time line of these events, this page.)
“As a result of the [earlier events], electronic bingo (gambling) is difficult to regulate,” he said. “There continue to be attempts to pass additional legislation expanding bingo (gambling) at various locations.”
So for the past decade, lawmakers have tried various ways to legalize, regulate and, some believe, monopolize electronic gambling. But lots of people want a piece of the pie so again it gets complicated.
The who, what, when and where are not constant. According to one’s agenda and allegiances, the definition is different.
The small-business owners see opportunity, and people who like to gamble want access. The Poarch Band of Creek Indians has three gambling sites, and it is interested in expanding its facilities. The large gambling operations — in state and out of state — see endless dollar signs if they could get their megafacilities in Alabama.
But the owners of the four dog tracks in the state see no need for new gambling locations. After all, some forms of gambling have already been approved at their locations. So they continue to push for full rights to electronic gambling. Two of the four (VictoryLand in Macon County and Greenetrack in Greene County) have succeeded to some degree, but the Birmingham Race Course and the Mobile Greyhound Park are still trying. House Bill 577 — which awaits a decision by the Alabama House of Representatives — would limit all electronic gambling to the Birmingham and Mobile racetracks.
In the meantime, smaller facilities pop up almost overnight and expand within weeks, targeting one or two counties at a time. Owners operate as long as they can while lawsuits and constitutional debates rattle on in the background.
(Sondra Washington contributed)
Charity bingo’s history in Alabama
1901
Article IV, Section 65 of the Alabama Constitution of 1901 prohibits games of chance in Alabama. Because of this constitutional provision, the Legislature cannot simply pass laws that permit types of gambling. All legal gambling is allowed only by additional constitutional amendments. Also based on this constitutional provision, the Alabama Legislature passed the provisions of the Alabama Criminal Code that make gambling a crime.
1971
Pari-mutuel wagering at dog and horse tracks was found constitutional in Opinion of the Justices, 251 So.2d 741. The Alabama Supreme Court said that while Section 65 of the constitution prevents the Legislature from authorizing a lottery, it does not prevent the Legislature from authorizing forms of gambling that do not constitute a lottery. There is a significant degree of skill involved in dog and horse racing and therefore it is constitutional.
1980
Bingo has always been considered to be a game of chance. In Act 80-431, Amendment 386 to the constitution, Jefferson County became the first county to authorize limited charitable bingo.
1980–2004
Since that time, there have been 17 additional constitutional amendments that permit bingo in one form or another in various counties and municipalities in Alabama.
1980 — Madison County
1982 — Montgomery County
1984 — Mobile County
1990 — Etowah County
1990 — Calhoun County
1992 — St. Clair County
1993 — Walker County
1993 — City of Jasper
1995 — Covington County
1996 — Houston County
1996 — Morgan County
1996 — Russell County
2000 — Lowdnes County
2000 — Limestone County
2002 — Town of White Hall
2003 — Greene County
2004 — Macon County
1990s
Numerous efforts took place to expand gambling through various types of legislation, such as video poker. These efforts failed.
2003
As a result of developing electronic technology that increased the potential for bingo gambling, bingo-related bills began to be introduced in the Alabama Legislature. Act No. 2003-124 (Amendment 744 for Macon County) was the major bill that passed (ratified in 2004). It allows significant bingo gambling at the Macon County track.
2004
There continued to be a question about what is a game of skill and what is a game of chance, since Section 65 forbids games of chance. In Ex Parte Ted’s Game Enterprises v. Ted’s Game Enterprises, 893 So.2d 376, the Alabama Supreme Court held that if chance is the dominant factor, it is a prohibited game of chance. The court noted the history of Alabama was to make broad prohibition of games of chance and specifically noted that “bingo” was such a game that needed to be excepted from Section 65 by additional constitutional amendments.
2004–2008
Constitutional amendments allowing bingo have been and are being distorted to allow larger prizes and extended play. Examples of this are occurring in Walker County, where there has been a proliferation of gambling machines, and in Houston County, where the county commission inappropriately expanded the amendment allowing charitable bingo there.
In recent years, a 2001 informal opinion released by Attorney General Troy King has been resurrected to justify electronic gambling. The opinion, dated Dec. 1, 2001, recognized electronic bingo as legal.
2008
Troy King said in a recent interview that his 2001 findings were presented to help law enforcement better enforce the games. “I’m opposed to gambling but my job as attorney general is not to take my personal views and override state laws,” he said.
“The solution is what we have proposed, which is to give the people of Alabama a chance to vote straight up or straight down on whether they want gambling in their state. If they want it, it should be regulated. There should be strict rules and tough penalties for people who break them. If we don’t want [it], we should ban [it] outright.”
King said the trouble is that rules in the counties and cities that allow bingo are unclear and “filled with loopholes.”
Timeline provided by attorney Eric Johnston with additional reporting by The Alabama Baptist
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