Alabama to announce gambling machine decision

Phillip Rawls

Monday, Nov. 15, 2004 | 10:58 a.m.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- Attorney General Troy King said his review of Alabama's electronic gambling businesses has taken longer than expected because the industry is governed by a complicated patchwork of laws and regulations.

King said he hopes to wrap up his inquiry "in the next week or so" and announce whether he thinks the machines being used in Alabama are legal or not.

King said he also plans to personally prosecute a gambling case in Troy next month, which will be a first for him as attorney general.

Shortly after being appointed by Gov. Bob Riley in March, King began getting complaints from the Christian Coalition and other gambling foes that some electronic gambling machines being used in Alabama weren't legal.

On July 2, King started his inquiry with a surprise visit to the Poarch Creek Indians' gambling hall in Montgomery and Milton McGregor's Victoryland dog track and gambling center in Macon County.

Over the next few weeks, King toured the Indians' gambling halls in Wetumpka and Atmore and the Greene County dog track, which operates gambling machines. The operators of each attraction told King that they were using legal electronic bingo machines and had no slot machines.

King's study also took him to Washington in September to talk to then-U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft about gambling in Alabama.

While studying Alabama's big gambling halls, King joined Pike County authorities in a raid Aug. 13 on unmarked metal building in Troy, where they seized 60 electronic machines that were being used by several customers.

Ray Grant, who was accused of being the operator, faces trial Dec. 9 on charges of possessing gambling devices. King said he plans to handle the case, which will mark his first appearance as a prosecutor in an Alabama courtroom since becoming the state's chief law enforcement officer.

King, who doesn't gamble, had only one experience with electronic gaming before becoming attorney general -- walking through a casino in Philadelphia, Miss., a few years ago to see a Johnny Cash concert. He said he decided to visit Alabama's gambling halls, look at the machines and talk to the operators because he didn't want to make a decision based simply on legal theories and second-hand knowledge.

"The thing that was most helpful to me was actually seeing the machines. I had a difficult time visualizing how you would play bingo on a video console," King said in an interview Friday.

After examining the machines, King said he found they were regulated "by a very confusing patchwork of laws" that included the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, various federal regulations, 18 different constitutional amendments that regulate live and electronic bingo in Alabama, and a variety of local regulations.

Sorting those out has not been easy, King said.

"This has taken much longer than I anticipated it would take and it has consumed a lot more time and energy than I imagined it might," King said.

When King announces his decision, he knows that one side -- or possibly both -- will accuse him of posturing for the 2006 election for attorney general, but he said that doesn't matter to him.

"At the end of the day, there is really only one person I have to be concerned about what they think. And it's that guy who looks me in the mirror when I get up in the morning," he said.