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December 2, 2009

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Hearing on Farmerville’s attempt to revive video poker

Thursday, July 20, 2000 | 10:15 a.m.

A state district court hearing Thursday focused on lawsuit by the town of Farmerville, which maintains it is entitled to have its own referendum on video poker which was outlawed in a Union Parish vote in 1996.

The machines were turned off on June 30, 1999.

Voters within the town favored keeping video poker in that referendum, the suit says.

The parish-by-parish referendum was ordered by a constitutional amendment approved by voters in 1996 to determine the fate of riverboat casinos, video poker and the New Orleans casino. Although casinos survived in November of that year, 33 of 64 parishes voted out video poker.

But Farmerville contends the constitutional amendment did not restrict votes to parish-wide referendums.

Another issue: In 1997, the Legislature passed a law requiring that all local gambling referendums be approved by state lawmakers. Farmerville contends that law illegally violates Farmerville's state-granted 1948 charter.

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