A Houston County judge ruled on Thursday that machines taken from the Center Stage entertainment facility in Houston County were illegal slot machines made to look like electronic bingo.
Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange said the ruling by Houston County Circuit Judge Michael Conaway was a decisive decision in the case against electronic bingo in the state.
“The decision from Judge Conaway in Houston County Circuit Court marks a good day for the rule of law,” said the Attorney General. “In a detailed analysis, the Court held that machines masquerading as electronic bingo are in fact illegal slot machines. Bingo operators have tried to create confusion in the law but this ruling ends the nonsense. Only the traditional paper version of the game commonly known as bingo is authorized by the Houston County bingo amendment, and slot machines cannot be used to play bingo.”
The machines will be destroyed and the money seized will go to the General Fund. Last year, law enforcement took almost 700 machines and more than $288 thousand.
The Court concluded the gambling devices seized at the Center Stage casino were “nothing more than illegal gambling cloaked in a ‘Bingo’ costume” and “not the game traditional game known as ‘Bingo’ as defined by the Supreme Court.”
The court also found the games being played did not meet the six required aspects of bingo as defined by the Alabama Supreme Court in the 2010 Cornerstone case, which said the game needs the human element of a traditional game of bingo to be qualified as legal bingo. The games at Center Stage would only last a few seconds.
Strange also said that Thursday’s ruling did not just cover Houston county, but all counties with local bingo amendments.
“Since taking office, I have said that I will resolve the debate over electronic bingo in the courts.” Strange said. “Today, another court has spoken and I hope this opinion will serve as a warning for those currently engaged in illegal gambling activities or contemplating operating slot machines in Houston County and throughout the state.”
Strange also called for the Alabama Legislature to change the law to help deter illegal gambling operations in the state.
“Until the Alabama Legislature acts to create an effective deterrent for large scale illegal gambling, individuals will continue to engage in illegal gambling activity and openly defy the law. These individuals stand to make thousands of dollars in illegal gambling profits while risking only a slap-on-the-wrist misdemeanor charge,” Strange declared. “The Legislature must change our law and create a badly needed deterrent for large scale illegal gambling by increasing the penalty for operating an illegal slot machine casino to a felony.”
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