Greene County Sheriff Jonathan “Joe” Benison announced today the conditional reopening of Palace Bingo Live, after closing it for two weeks because of violations of the operating rules, under Alabama Constitutional Amendment 743.
Alabama Constitutional Amendment 743 requires the Sheriff of Greene County to license and regulate the bingo industry in Greene County. In his closing order, Sheriff Benison said the Palace Bingo was allowing prizes of more than $10,000 per bingo session. A bingo session is not clearly defined in C.A.743 and bingo operators have found ways to get around this limitation.
Sheriff Benison said, “It was with a heavy heart that I was forced to order that T.S. Police Support League d/b/a The Palace Live, close its doors due to apparent operational deficiencies.
“Since the order of closure was initially issued last week Sheriff Benison has been clear that his office would be available to meet with The Palace Bingo and its charity, T. S. Support League as soon as they were ready and able to discuss compliance. “On Monday, November 27, 2023, representatives of the Palace Bingo notified representatives of the Sheriff’s office, that they were ready to have such a discussion. This discussion was beneficial and has led to the conditional reopening of The Palace Bingo”, said representatives of the Sheriff’s office.
With respect to the reopening Sheriff Benison stated the following: “After identifying operational deficiencies at Palace Bingo Live, I ordered their closure. After productive meetings with them, I have authorized a fourteen-day conditional reopening. During that time, I expect all deficiencies will be resolved to avoid further closure. It will be good to see their compliance and remedial action in this fourteen-day period, and it will be good to see their employees back at work. All Licensees across the County have been informed that I expect that they will likewise comply with the same rules and requirements as applied to The Palace Bingo Live.”
Efforts to contact the Sheriff to get more specific details of the deficiencies that were addressed and contacts with the TS Police Support League to get their comments were unsuccessful.