Alabama attorney general trying to shut down White Hall gambling

Phillip Rawls

Thursday, Dec. 2, 2004 | 9:14 a.m.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- Alabama Attorney General Troy King announced Wednesday that he will try to shut down the state's newest electronic gambling hall in White Hall, and he warned two dog tracks to replace electronic machines he considers illegal.

King's announcement came after a five-month review of electronic gambling in Alabama. The games often have spinning wheels and other graphics similar to Las Vegas-style machines. But the operators maintain the spinning wheels and other decorations have no impact on the outcome, and the machines are simply dressed-up versions of electronic bingo.

While King personally opposes gambling and says it "creates more social ills than can be cured by the revenue it generates," he said he couldn't go as far as some gambling opponents wanted -- banning electronic bingo games from the state.

"I cannot conclude, as some have, that just because the game is being played on video consoles, it is not 'bingo,' " King said.

The Republican attorney general said the newly opened gambling business in White Hall, 20 miles west of Montgomery, is operating under a flawed constitutional amendment. He plans to ask a judge to invalidate the constitutional amendment and then pursue a court order to halt operations.

Chad Dickie, manager of White Hall Gaming Center, did not immediately return telephone calls seeking comment.

The White Hall center operates under two constitutional amendments. One, approved by voters statewide in 2000, permitted bingo in Lowndes County, and another amendment, approved only in Lowndes County in 2002, expanded what could be offered. The second amendment should have been voted on statewide because it drew one negative vote in the Legislature, and any constitutional amendment that gets any negative votes in the Legislature must be voted on statewide rather than in a single county, King said.

The electronic games at White Hall now are not permitted under the original 2000 constitutional amendment, and "that is the fatal flaw," King said.

The attorney general, who personally visited the gambling halls at the Macon and Greene county dog tracks, said most of their electronic bingo machines are legal, but some are not because they are not based on a traditional bingo grid that is five squares wide and five squares tall. Instead, they have larger grids.

King said he would give the tracks a reasonable amount of time to replace or reprogram the machines to comply with his definition of what is allowed in Alabama.

Milton McGregor, operator of VictoryLand in Macon County, and Herlecia Hampton, marketing director for Greenetrack in Greene County, issued statements saying their machines comply with the constitutional amendments establishing bingo in the two rural counties, and they operate within regulations set up by the sheriffs of the two counties.

McGregor's spokesman, Rick Heartsill, said the attorney general had raised questions earlier about six machines at VictoryLand, and McGregor removed them promptly.

Greenetrack has more than 700 electronic games, and VictoryLand has about 1,800.

King's gambling review also took him to the Poarch Creek Indians' operations in Atmore, Wetumpka and Montgomery. King said he has no authority on Indian lands, but he has discussed his findings with federal authorities who do have jurisdiction. He declined to say what they discussed or whether he saw anything he considered improper.

One of the machine suppliers for the Creek Indians, Eric McGlaughlin, corporate operations manager for Nova Gaming, said he is confident that his company's machines are legal.

The Christian Coalition, which made some of the complaints that prompted the attorney general's review of gambling halls, was pleased with the outcome.

"The attorney general's actions today are a good first step in setting boundaries and definitions that will hopefully disrupt the efforts of trial lawyers representing the gambling industry who often succeed in the courtroom by relying on vague definitions," state President John Giles said.