By Sondra Washington
Two weeks ago, business boomed at dozens of electronic bingo gambling parlors in Walker and Jefferson counties. But two Oct. 26 circuit court rulings and a district attorney’s warning forced the parlors to close after years of battling over the games they say are played on illegal “slot machines.”
Now some county and state leaders say they are receiving confirmation on the arguments they have made “all along” and hope the ripple effects will spread across the state to rid it of “these seedy operations.”
In the Walker County bingo case, Jefferson County Circuit Judge Robert S. Vance called the county’s “big” bingo business an “illegal lottery” that voters did not intend to approve in 1992. Testimony in the case revealed wagers in the area approaching “$2 billion” annually.
“Amendment 549 (which allows bingo games in Walker County) provides for a narrow exception to the general illegality of lotteries, but the exception was intended to apply to only traditional bingo,” Vance stated after a year of weeding through the county’s bingo case. “All current bingo operations in Walker County that employ electronic player stations are therefore illegal.”
Vance referenced testimony from gaming experts, charity directors and longtime bingo players, as well as the county bingo amendment and enabling act to prove “traditional bingo was envisioned by local authorities [and Walker County voters], with no reference therein to electronic machinery.”
He further explained, “The electronic player station plays the bingo games for the player. … To simply drop money in an electronic machine, push a button to start the game and passively stare at the machine for six seconds to see if you’ve won anything is not ‘the game commonly known as bingo.’”
Although Vance ordered Walker County electronic bingo gambling facilities to “immediately” stop operating, Jefferson County Circuit Judge Scott Vowell ordered the 183 machines that sparked a court case in Kimberly disposed of or destroyed within 60 days.
Seized in a Kimberly assembly plant, the machines were “in the process of being assembled for use in Walker County bingo halls.”
Vowell said he had delayed “issuing a ruling in the expectation that there would be a definitive appellate court decision which would resolve the issues in this case.”
He also referred to confusion over Attorney General Troy King’s press release, which has been used repeatedly by numerous county and city leaders attempting to pass laws allowing electronic bingo gambling.
“Although the attorney general has issued a press release setting some parameters for determining whether electronic ‘bingo’ is illegal, that press release is not law and does not purport to set an exhaustive or exclusive list of the game’s elements,” Vowell wrote.
Still he said, “The court is persuaded by overwhelming authority from other states, as well as common sense and the expert testimony … that the game played on [the] machines is not the ordinary game of bingo. Most critically, the game is not ‘bingo’ because it eliminates the requirement that players manually daub their own cards or call out ‘bingo!’ when they have won.”
Gov. Bob Riley was pleased with both rulings.
“The message sent today is crystal clear,” Riley said in a press release. “This is not bingo. These are slot machines, plain and simple.”
He said the two rulings show that Alabama law is not ambiguous.
“Only organized gambling and their allies will tell you otherwise,” Riley said. “They try to confuse the public and the press by clouding the issue. But ruling after ruling, we can see that what they’ve perpetuated is just a sham. The lies told by organized gambling and their allies are beginning to catch up with them. Our task force and courageous law enforcement across the state will continue to crack down on illegal gambling until it’s gone for good.”
Jefferson County District Attorney Brandon Falls, who gave bingo “casinos” until Oct. 31 to “leave Jefferson County,” said he is pleased the courts have ruled the way he and others have argued.
“I’m thinking these rulings … were the nails in the coffin for illegal gambling in Jefferson County,” Falls said. “Now I really want the Alabama Supreme Court to go ahead and shovel the dirt on top of it.”
According to Alabama Supreme Court Clerk Robert G. Esdale, the justices may rule in the Lowndes County electronic bingo gambling case within the next 30 to 60 days. Although Esdale did not expect the ruling to resolve the overall question of whether electronic bingo gambling is legal in the state, he did say evidence from the two circuit court cases and the judges’ orders may influence the justices’ ruling.
The Lowndes County case has been in front of the Supreme Court since April. St. Clair and Etowah counties are also awaiting Supreme Court rulings.
St. Clair County District Attorney Richard Minor said he believed the court received all necessary briefs Oct. 8 to determine the legality of electronic bingo gambling under the county’s constitutional amendment. Minor said his office also asked the Supreme Court to rule on whether the machines are gambling devices.
Etowah Baptists have waited for a Supreme Court ruling since March 4, when briefs were turned in to determine which bingo laws should be followed in the county. Etowah Baptist Association enlisted Gadsden attorney Josh Sullivan to appeal to the state’s high court to question the process and procedure used in the trial court case on this matter. Sullivan also asked the court to resolve whether electronic bingo gambling is legal in Etowah County.
Chief Justice Sue Bell Cobb could not be reached by press time to confirm the Supreme Court’s plans regarding which of the cases might be scheduled first.
Share with others: