Attorney General pushes for statewide vote on electronic gambling

Attorney General Troy King said Wednesday that he retains authority over a special gambling task force appointed last week by Gov. Bob Riley, and said the best way to resolve the debate over electronic gaming is to put the issue to a statewide vote.

King spoke about the issue Wednesday in Dothan. He plans to make the gaming vote part of his legislative package for the upcoming legislative session, which begins next month.

King said he believes state law empowers county commissions to issue special bingo permits in those counties that have previously voted to allow charitable bingo. But, he said confusing legal language has made it difficult to apply the law.

Last week, Gov. Bob Riley appeared to sidestep King by appointing a special task force — led by former Jefferson County District Attorney David Barber — to investigate illegal gambling in Alabama.

King said he was not consulted about the governor’s appointment of the task force. He also said he would not provide an assistant attorney general to help with the task force.

“No permission has been sought or given,” King said.

He also said he retains the right to oversee the task force’s operations.

“I retain the ability to superintend or take away any case brought in this state,“ King said.

Todd Stacy, spokesperson for Gov. Riley, said he and King have a “fundamental disagreement” on the issue.

“It’s clear that the law is not being uniformly enforced in this state,” Stacy said. “That’s why Governor Riley has called upon David Barber to do what he did in Birmingham as district attorney — shut down illegal gambling wherever it exists.”

Stacy also said it would not be fair to comment on future task force actions.

“By executive order, the Governor’s Task Force on Illegal Gambling was given statewide jurisdiction to investigate gambling operations and shut down unlawful activity. So far, the task force hasn’t brought any charges or opened a case, so any talk about what may or may not happen is purely speculative.”

King said a statewide yes-or-no vote would remove confusion on the issue. He said he remains personally opposed to gambling in Alabama, but said state law allows for electronic gaming — in some forms and in some places.

“As Attorney General, I have given up the right to enforce my will. I have to enforce the laws as they are written. My opinion is that the Houston County Commission (in awarding a special bingo permit for electronic bingo at Country Crossing) exercised the legal authority given to them by the Constitution of this state.”

State Sen. Harri Anne Smith, R-Slocomb, said she would support a statewide vote if the vote resulted in clearing up the issue. She said the language of the proposed amendment would need to be worded carefully to guard against loose interpretation.

King has issued two legal opinions regarding electronic bingo at the Country Crossing development in south Houston County. Both opinions indicated electronic bingo — as it is proposed to be operated — would be legal at the development.

“I believe the opinion was correct as I tendered it then and it is correct as I stand here today,” King said.

Houston County Commission Chairman Mark Culver said he welcomed King’s statement.

“What (King) said is what we’ve been saying the whole time,” Culver said. “We believed from the beginning we were operating within the law and never would have tried to do something that wasn’t.”

Stacy, however, said neither of King’s opinions define bingo or rule on the proposed machines that would be operating at Country Crossing.