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Bingo controversy continues between Gilley, Riley
Nov 4 2009 12:00AM By Melissa Braun Sun Staff Writer
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With less than 30 days before the doors of Country Crossing are expected to open in Houston County, developers of the country music theme park continue to face state officials who say electronic bingo in the state is illegal.
Despite the hurdles, however, developers say the park will open on schedule and will open with electronic bingo.
During an Oct. 30 press conference, Country Crossing developers joined forces with Houston County officials to address what has been described as a “witch hunt” to shut down the development.
Houston County Commission Chairman Mark Culver said developers and officials have worked for two years to bring the project to Houston County with great anticipation due to the projected revenue it could generate.
“Unfortunately, some elected officials have not shared our vision and have done nothing but create delays, causing downsizing of the first phase and exhausting thousands of tax dollars on personnel, court proceedings and misuse of law enforcement on what we believe to be a witch hunt trying to keep this project from becoming a reality,” Culver said.
“Despite those efforts, Country Crossing is a reality and is going to legally open in December.”
One such effort to slow the development’s opening, Culver said, is a phone call by Sonny Regan, deputy legal advisor to Gov. Bob Riley, to the Nevada Gaming Commission warning that delivery of electronic bingo machines to the Country Crossing development would be an illegal act in Alabama.
Regan reportedly cited a recent ruling by Jefferson County Circuit Judge Robert Vance Jr. who ruled that electronic bingo machines in Walker County bingo facilities violated the county’s 1993 bingo amendment and must be shut down amongst several other similar rulings as evidence of the illegality of the machines in Alabama.
Following Vance’s ruling, Riley released a statement, which read, “One by one, court rulings reconfirm what the law is and say there is no ambiguity. The judge wrote, ‘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’. The only people who could possibly disagree with that statement are those supporting the gambling interests.’”
Vance’s ruling reads, “Unlike traditional bingo, where players can see, hear and socialize with the other players, electronic bingo appears to be a much more solitary endeavor. A player does not know against whom he’s playing, focusing his attention on the video screen before him. As both experts recognized, moreover, the player’s role in electronic bingo is limited to putting money in, pressing the start button, and watching to see what happens. The electronic player station plays the bingo games for the player.”
The following day, Riley once again applauded a similar ruling by Jefferson County Circuit Judge Scott Vowell where the judge ruled against American Gaming Systems in Kimberly, Ala., stating that the bingo machines the company was manufacturing were, in fact, slot machines and ordered them to be destroyed.
“The message sent today is crystal clear,” Riley said. “This is not bingo. These are slot machines, plain and simple.”
Regan reportedly also warned the Nevada company that is manufacturing the machines for Country Crossings against shipping such electronic bingo machines to Alabama or Houston County.
“He (Regan) also reportedly stated that there were machines headed to Country Crossing in Houston County, Alabama, and that if they were shipped, they would be confiscated and parties would be arrested,” Culver said at the press conference.
Developers and Houston County officials, however, allege that the Walker County bingo ruling like many others throughout the state has no say on Country Crossing.
“It is important to point out that Judge Vance’s ruling was based on the fact that Walker County’s enabling act restricts bingo to paper form. His ruling is specific to Walker County only,” said Jay Walker, spokesman for Country Crossing.
“Judge Vance went as far as to list the counties with amendments similar to that in Walker County – Houston County is not on his list,” he said.
Culver joined with Walker in voicing confidence in the legality of electronic bingo in Houston County.
“The Houston County Commission did not take the legality of this project lightly. The citizens of this state approved bingo in Houston County in a statewide vote in 1994. We obtained multiple legal opinions related to our jurisdiction and regulatory authority and power over charitable bingo games in Houston County based on that amendment,” said Culver.
The commission, he explained, also sought legal opinions on electronic bingo from the county’s sheriff and from Attorney General Troy King.
“The attorney general also stated publicly, here in Dothan, that the operation here is legal –– attorney general is the highest law enforcement official in the state, not the governor,” Culver said.
In Vowell’s Jefferson County ruling, he argued that an attorney general’s opinion given in a press release is not validated as law.
“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,” Vowell also wrote in his opinion.
Despite judicial and gubernatorial opinions against electronic bingo, Culver and Walker said the Nevada Gaming Commission is also on their side.
“They met, reviewed the information we sent them and the comments of the governor’s office and determined that in fact, we were correct and it is fine for the equipment to be shipped. The commission is also planning to call the governor’s office and inform them that they appreciated the concern, but they disagree with the governor’s position,” said Culver.
Culver also contends that the governor’s office has in essence overstepped its boundaries.
“The Houston County Commission has authority to regulate electronic bingo games in Houston County and we believe that the governor’s office has no constitutional authority to regulate bingo games in Houston County, Alabama,” he said. “We view the communication from the governor’s staff as an improper interference in the economic development efforts and activities of the Houston County Commission. Country Crossing is a reality, it will have charitable bingo, it will employ thousands and generate millions and it will open in just a few weeks.”
©Southeast Sun 2009
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