St. Clair County playing host to displaced arcades

St. Clair County playing host to displaced arcades

Much to the dismay of the anti-gambling citizens of St. Clair County, their area is becoming a mecca for nomadic video gambling device owners who are once again looking for a place to call home.

The central Alabama county is still allowing the controversial gaming devices to operate, despite Attorney General Bill Pryor’s March opinion stating they were illegal.

The majority of Alabama’s district attorneys and law enforcement agencies immediately took the attorney general’s opinion as a legal basis to shut down the infestation of the devices in their counties. But St. Clair County District Attorney Van Davis chose otherwise.

Davis said he is waiting on the Alabama Supreme Court to determine the gaming devices’ legality. He bases his decision on two previous lawsuits that were filed against him, the sheriff and the county for shutting down adult arcades in St. Clair County last year.

Davis also said he justifies his actions based upon the on-again-off-again legality of the gaming machines. “We are going to wait until there has been a ruling on the law and we can prosecute based on statute and law,” he said.

Confusion on the interpretation of the law became evident in March 2001 when an opinion was given by the Alabama Supreme Court stating the machines were unconstitutional under state law.

This opinion was quickly followed by court deposition testimony by Pryor where he stated the devices were legal under current law.

Then, in March of this year, he offered an opinion stating the devices were illegal to operate.

Pryor’s latest opinion was the impetus that gave the majority of the state’s district attorneys the ammunition they felt they needed to stop the machines from operating.

With the majority of counties closing down the arcades, St. Clair County is now perceived as a gambling oasis. The county is attracting optimistic machine owners, who have become adept at opening, closing and reopening their businesses as they move to more welcoming locations.

Machine owners say they are hoping to ride out the troubled waters of law interpretation and take advantage of the time remaining before the final decision is made.

However, chur­ches in the area do not plan to sit idly by. They are currently circulating petitions to city officials asking them to shut down the machines and stop future arcades from opening.

Billy Hunt, director of missions for St. Clair Association, said he sent out a letter urging pastors to circulate a petition among their congregation. “I encouraged them to take a stand against the machines,” he said.

Hunt said he has heard from numerous people of different denominations voicing their concern over the infiltration of machines into the county.