Same judge, but ruling not applicable

By Katie Nichols (Contact) | Selma Times-Journal

Published Tuesday, October 27, 2009

WHITE HALL — Bingo halls across Alabama have continued to be on the forefront of hot debate in courtrooms and in the community.

Nearby White Hall Entertainment Center received a blow from the governor’s task force on March 19.

ABI and Lowndes County Sheriff’s deputies confiscated about 200 gaming machines and hundreds of thousands of dollars that day, according to authorities.

On Monday Jefferson County Circuit Judge Robert Vance, who will hear White Hall Entertainment Center’s case, ruled that Walker County bingo halls that use electronic player stations are illegal and must the shut down immediately.

Collins Pettaway Jr., the attorney for White Hall Entertainment Center, said the ruling does not affect the center directly nor should it affect the center indirectly.

“The judge’s ruling affects only Walker County bingo halls,” Pettaway said. “The ruling can indirectly affect White Hall because the governor’s side can point to that ruling when they look at our case.”

Fortunately for White Hall Entertainment Center, there are some key differences in their case. White Hall’s wording in key amendments is different than Walker County’s phrasing.

“One of the main points the judge made was that there was no definition of bingo in Walker County’s amendments and therefore used the general meaning of the term as of 1993,” Pettaway said. “Our amendment was written in 2000 and has a definition in a second writing that includes media bingo. That is a strong difference in a key issue.”

Another difference is White Hall does not use the words paper card in their amendments, which was another bone of contention for the judge.

On the other side of the ruling, Gov. Bob Riley praised Vance and said it validates the work of a task force he appointed to investigate illegal gambling in Alabama. Riley said the judge’s ruling confirms his belief that electronic bingo machines are the same as slot machines.

“All across the state, our task force is assisting local law enforcement in cracking down on organized gambling, and we’ll continue to do so until we finally rid our state of these seedy operations,” the governor said.

State Rep. Ken Guin, D-Carbon Hill, wrote a brief on behalf of one of the bingo operators, Creekside Charity Binto. He argued that the constitutional amendment that allows bingo in Walker County authorizes all types of bingo.

“Amendment 549 is plain on its face,” Guin said. “It allows the playing of bingo in Walker County all types of bingo.”

Vance said in his order that his ruling ends the lawsuit.

White Hall Entertainment Center has sometime before their case comes before Vance until then the center is operating business as usual.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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