Greene County Sheriff Jonathan Benison filed a lawsuit against all the bingo machine providers, operators, and charities in Greene County to ensure compliance with his new rules for electronic bingo, under Constitutional Amendment 743.
The amendment empowers the Sheriff of Greene County to make the rules and regulation concerning the licensing, permitting and operation of electronic bingo in Greene County.
Sheriff Benison says in his lawsuit that he is promulgating new rules as of October 10, 2023, that must be implemented within 45 days, by November 24, 2023, for a new form of electronic bingo, called “Bookend Bingo”. It is so named because every bingo session henceforth will “be required to commence and end with the play of a bingo game that includes the characteristics imposed by the Alabama Supreme Court while utilizing an electronic marking machine.”
Benison asserts that his new form of “Bookend Bingo” complies with Amendment 743 and section 65 of the Alabama Constitution and thus will bring an end to State Attorney General Steve Marshall’s lawsuit to close the playing of bingo in Greene County, because the AG asserts that it is a form of illegal gambling.
The Sheriff’s new regulations would limit the winnings in any one session of bingo to $10,000, which he says is required by Amendment 743.
Benison asserts that the Palace Bingo is currently offering higher payouts in violation of these rules.
In his lawsuit, the Sheriff requests a preliminary and later a permanent injunction of the current bingo machine providers and operators to change their machines, or the software in their machines, to comply with his new “Bookend Bingo” rules. He requests this hearing by early November to allow for the expeditious conversion of bingo machines in compliance with his new rules.
In his lawsuit, the Sheriff defines ‘Bookend Bingo’ as a game with three phases, including a Beginning Phase, similar to conventional bingo but still played on an electronic marking machine; an Entertainment Phase, which is similar to the current bingo machine operations, although with updated software; and a Completion Phase, which is similar to the initial phase.
The rules and details of ‘Bookend Bingo’ are comprehensively described in the Sheriff’s new rules, which are attached to the lawsuit and are supposed to comply with Alabama law and in particular cause the AG’s case against bingo in Greene County to be concluded as no longer viable. The Sheriff does not include any written assurance from the Attorney General that this new form of bingo will meet his legal requirements.
The Democrat called several representatives of the current bingo operators to get their comments on the Sheriff’s new rules and lawsuit to implement them. These persons uniformly said that they could not comment and that they were still studying the lawsuit to understand what it means and the implications for their businesses.
The Democrat also called Attorney’s Troy King and H. E. Nix, who signed the lawsuit and represent the Sheriff to get a better understanding of  the Sheriff’s rationale, strategy, and goals in promulgating these new rules for electronic bingo in Greene County. Neither attorney has called back.