MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) – The Alabama Supreme Court has ruled in favor of the State of Alabama in its ongoing fight against electronic gaming machines, striking a blow to gambling operations in two counties.
On Friday, the state’s highest court issued orders pertaining to defendants in Macon and Lowndes counties, home to facilities including Victoryland and White Hall Entertainment, to cease engaging in “illegal gambling activities.”
According to the court’s ruling, the defendants, White Hall Gaming and Victoryland Casinos, have “no right” to engage in and “cannot be harmed by enjoined from continuing in an illegal enterprise.”
Justices ordered the two county circuit courts to, within 30 days, enter orders that permanently join defendants from offering “electronic bingo” machines at any facility, from receiving money from the machines, from transporting or adding more machines, and “from receiving, utilizing , or providing bingo licenses or permits to play “electronic bingo” in their respective county.”
The state’s high court noted in its order that “because White Hall has waived all arguments at issue in its cross-appeal relating to the dismissal of its counterclaims, that portion of the Lowndes Circuit Court’s order is hereby affirmed,” meaning Lowndes County has already complied with the order.
The Alabama attorney general’s office has long since declared electronic bingo in Alabama as illegal gambling, going as far as using hundreds of thousands of dollars to prosecute it. In 2016, the governor’s office disbanded a task force on illegal gambling, transferring the responsibilities from the AG’s office. Executive Order Number 13 deemed local jurisdictions and law enforcement as being those charged with interpreting and applying Alabama law over gaming or gambling in their respective county.
While Friday’s order specifically addresses only Macon and Lowndes counties, it could ultimately have a statewide impact on other, non-Native American enterprises.
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