By John Zippert, Co-Publisher

A hearing was held on Monday, January 6, 2025, in the on-going case of the State of Alabama vs the electronic bingo operators in Greene County concerning the legality of machines used to play electronic bingo in the county and generate income for Greene County agencies through the office of the Sheriff.

The state contends that the machines used by the electronic bingo operators are a public nuisance and are illegal slot machines under the laws of the State of Alabama. The Alabama Supreme Court has also ruled that bingo is a game played on paper cards not on
electronic machines, such as those used in Greene County.

This lawsuit, which was filed by Alabama State Attorney General, Steve Marshall, seven years ago, has lingered and been postponed and continued numerous times. During this period a number of the electronic bingo operators have ceased operations, converted to historical horse racing machines or stopped operations and were dismissed from the suit by retired Circuit Judge James Moore of Fayette, who was named as a special judge to hear the case, since Circuit Judge Eddie Hardaway was ruled to have a conflict of interest in hearing the case.

Greenetrack was dismissed from the case when it converted to historical horse racing and subsequent closed due to losing a case concerning sales taxes owed to the State. Rivers Edge ceased operations. The Palace ceased bingo operations and acquired a license from the Greene County Racing Commission for pari-mutuel simulcasting of grey hound dog and horse racing, as well as historical horse racing machines.

This left Bama Bingo and Frontier, as the only remaining operating electronic bingo operations in Greene County. Sheriff Jonathan Benison, the administrator of electronic bingo in Greene County was also a remaining defendant in the lawsuit.

Judge James Moore has not yet issued a written ruling in the case, according to Circuit Clerk Veronica Morton Jones, however, at the hearing he dismissed the Sheriff from the case and had the two remaining electronic bingo operators agree to cease operations in thirty (30) days.

Attorney John Kachelmann, representing the State of Alabama, said, “We are satisfied with the outcome of the case. It took seven years of delays to get the case settled. Our goal was to stop the use of illegal electronic bingo machines in the Greene County, and we feel we have achieved that goal.”

When asked about the impact of closing bingo, on the government agencies and non-profits, that received shares of the funds paid to the Sheriff for the operation of electronic bingo machines, Kachelmann said, “We have nothing to do with that. We were concerned with enforcing the laws of the State of Alabama.”

Palace in dispute with Sheriff Benison

The Palace Live, gaming establishment received a license from the Greene County Racing Commission on December 4, 2024, to operate pari-mutuel simulcasting of greyhound dog and horse racing, as well as historical horse racing machines, which are similar to bingo machines but based on past horse races.

After remodeling, the Palace re-opened under its license with the Greene County Racing Commission. On December 30, 2024, deputies with the Greene County Sheriff’s Department, petitioned for a search warrant and went to the Palace to seize their historical horse racing gaming machines. The Sheriff’s deputies assert that the historical horse race machines were “illegal slot machines”. The Sheriff’s deputies acted without consulting with the Greene County Racing Commission, which has licensed the Palace Live to operate pari-mutuel wagering in Greene County.

The Five Star Investment Company, doing business as The Palace Live has requested an emergency hearing at which it will request that the search warrant be quashed, and all property seized by the Sheriff be returned.

District Judge Lillie Jones- Osborne, who granted the Sheriff’s original request for a search warrant of the Palace, has set a hearing on the complaint from the Palace for Monday, January 13, 2025, at 9:30 AM in the Greene County Courthouse.

The Greene County Democrat will continue to monitor this case. Efforts to reach attorneys for the Sheriff and electronic bingo operators were unsuccessful.