Last week, the White Hall Bingo Hall near Huntsville, Alabama was shut down after a task force led by state police raided the facility and confiscated two hundred video bingo devices. The Alabama Supreme Court ruled that the machines constituted illegal gambling devices and that the owners were subject to criminal prosecution under the state’s strict laws.
The bingo machines have been popular in bars and stores around the state since the 1980s, but anti-gaming groups have set their sights on eliminating them from their borders. These groups, led mostly by Baptist ministers and their congregations, have a powerful ally in Republican Governor Bob Riley. Riley has stated that all of the state’s sixteen thousand electronic bingo machines should be removed and that “it’s time for them to go.”
Riley also said that he plans to prosecute any company that houses, buys or sells the illegal machines “to the fullest extent” of the law. He has sent letters to governors in states like Nevada, New Jersey and Louisiana, where the gambling industry is at its strongest, asking them to make sure that manufacturers of these machines do not ship their devices to Alabama in an attempt to circumvent the law.
The governor’s stance runs into the full opposition of the developers of new and expanded sites for the popular games. Ronnie Gilley, the lead developer for the Country Crossing facility, said that plans at his site are going “full speed ahead” for a December 1 opening day. His facility will include a concert hall, an RV park and a bed and breakfast along with 1,700 video bingo machines.
Ron Sparks, the state’s Agriculture Commissioner and prospective gubernatorial candidate in the next election, also voiced his disagreement with Riley’s position, stating that the removal of the video bingo machines would cost state and local governments millions in lost tax revenue. Sparks promised that, if elected governor, he would create a plan to regulate and expand gambling within the state in an effort to lower taxes and relieve the state’s budget crisis.
