Tag Archives: Sheriff Benison

Sheriff Benison hosts meeting to explain new ‘Bookend Bingo’ rules

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Screen shot of electronic bingo machine in the Beginning Phase of Bookend Bingo, in Sheriff’s new rules

On Monday, October 30,2023, Sheriff Benison held a meeting at the William M. Branch County Courthouse to explain his new rules for conducting electronic bingo in Greene County. He was assisted in his presentation by his lawyer, Attorney Troy King, who previously served as Alabama Attorney General.

Attorney Troy King and Attorney H. E. Nix filed and signed the Sheriff’s recent lawsuit to secure an injunction to require the machine providers, operators and charities currently involved in Greene County, under Constitutional Amendment 743, to change their machines and operations to comply with the Sheriff’s new rules for playing bingo.

Sheriff Benison indicated that he was designated in Constitutional Amendment 743 to be the regulator and promulgator of electronic bingo in Greene County. He said, “I will do what is necessary to implement and preserve electronic bingo for Greene County, especially to distribute revenues from bingo to agencies and organization in the county.”

In answer to a question, if the new rules will be acceptable to Steve Marshall, Alabama Attorney General and the Alabama Supreme Court, Troy King said, “No we have not had these rules approved. We feel the prior rules were legal and proper. The Sheriff redesigned the rules to meet all the requirements of the Alabama Supreme Court, so we feel that they will be approved and used to allow electronic bingo to go forward in Greene County.”

King went on to say, “Our new rules define for the first time what an ‘Electronic marking machine for bingo’ is and how they operate in a county that has language in its C. A. 743 that permits electronic forms of bingo. Our definition also makes clear that bingo electronic marking machines are not slot machine or other forms of illegal gambling machines, as the Attorney General has argued in prior legal cases against bingo in Greene County and other counties.”

The new rules require players to participate in a Beginning Phase, where they will play traditional bingo, based on letters and numbers being called to complete patterns on a five column by five row bingo cards, displayed on an electronic machine on which they must daub their numbers. Then they get to play the Entertainment Phase of bingo, which is like the games currently being played. At the end of their session, they must again play the Completing Phase on bingo cards displayed on an electronic machine. King indicated that for some machines all that would be required is a software update to accommodate the playing of the beginning and completion phases of bingo.

Further King said, “These rules are specific to Greene County under C. A. 743 and limit the proliferation of bingo to other counties, which should satisfy the state.

“We are hoping to get a hearing, a judgement, and a preliminary injunction, in Greene County Circuit Court, to allow the Sheriff to implement his new rules for bingo in Greene County in November. We also hope to use these new rules to get the Attorney General to dismiss his lawsuit against bingo in Greene County and allow operations to go forward under the new rules,” said King.

Some of the bingo operators have expressed concerns about moving ahead with the Sheriff’s required changes without some assurance that the Attorney General and Supreme Court will accept these rules and allow electronic bingo to continue in Greene County.

A status hearing in front of Judge Haynes on the case of the State of Alabama vs. Bingo operators and charities in Greene County, is scheduled for this Thursday, November 2, 2023, at 1:00 PM in the William M. Branch Courthouse. The Sheriff’s new rules are likely to be discussed at this hearing.

In a separate legal matter, OIC Dream, Inc. which operates the Frontier Bingo parlor has filed a lawsuit in Federal court alleging that Sheriff Benison has arbitrarily imposed ‘box fees’ on operators for a minimum of 500 bingo machines and used some of the funds that were designated for Greene County agencies to pay legal fees and other expenses of the Sheriff’ s Department.

Steele moves $115,000 of Branch Heights Road funds Eutaw Mayor and City Council members disagree over use of funds

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Last night’s Special Called Meeting of the Eutaw City Council ended in a deadlocked 3 to 3 tie vote over paying bills for the City.
Mayor Raymond Steele, Latasha Johnson and Bennie Abrams voted in favor of paying the bills while Joe Lee Powell, LaJeffrey Carpenter and Shiela H. Smith voted against paying the outstanding bills for May and June.
This special meeting was held because the prior regular Council meeting, last Tuesday June 12, ended in an argument between Council members and the Mayor, after an Executive Session discussing the movement of funds to pay bills.
In an interview with the Democrat, Councilman Joe Lee Powell said he was concerned that Mayor Steele had transferred $115,000 from an account earmarked to repair roads and streets in Branch Heights to pay the City’s current bills. The account had about $350,000 in it before the transfer.
“ A meeting was held in Branch Heights to discuss the status of the ‘road fund’ which comes from a $27,000 monthly set aside of funds paid by the Palace Electronic Bingo Hall. After the meeting, the Mayor transferred the funds out of the Road Account into the General Fund, and used them to pay bills,” asserted Councilman Powell, who lives in Branch Heights and represents the area on the Eutaw City Council.
“What the Mayor did was take the little hope we had of fixing the roads in Branch Heights and dashed our hopes. The Mayor should have met with us to figure out what other parts of the budget could be cut and how to adjust accounts to make funds available to pay bills. How will we pay next month’s bills, does Mayor Steele plan to dip into the Branch Heights Road Fund again?” asks Powell.

Councilman LaJeffrey Carpenter says, “ This is not a new problem, the Mayor knows our income has been dropping for several months. Why didn’t he meet with the Council to discuss this before taking the Branch Heights funds without our permission? If we had a budget for the City, we could have caught this problem in time and avoided being in this situation.”
Mayor Steele says, “ I had no choice but to use the funds we had to pay our bills, including a bill to IRS on late payment of employee taxes. I have been working with U. S. Senator Richard Shelby and others to get the $5 million needed to redo the roads and streets in Branch Heights. It is going to take a lot more than the money in the special Branch Heights Road Fund to fix the roads. We need to pay our bills now and work on the roads when more substantial funds become available from the Federal government.”
Steele went on to say, “I consulted with Sheriff Benison before I moved the road funds over to the general fund. He agreed that we needed to pay our current bills.”
“ I am also hoping in the near future that the Love’s Truck Stop, at the Interstate 40 Exit, will become a reality and can generate new sales and gas tax revenues to help with the City’s General Fund and for special projects like repair of the roads in Branch Heights,” said Steele.
Powell said, “ Mayor Steele was wrong not to meet with us and present and discuss his plan to move and spend the Branch Heights Road Fund monies. If he had worked with us, we might have found a solution that all could live with. I did not vote to pay the list of bills he presented because most of them were marked paid already, with the funds he transferred. He has to work with us and he cannot dictate to us without any discussion.”
Asked if delays in sending water bills was contributing to the City’s financial problems, Powell said, “I think everyone will get a partial bill this week but I would not have signed off on the water project, like Mayor Steele did, until everything was worked out on the new digital self-reading water meters. This is part of the problem but until we sit down together – the Council and the Mayor – we will not be able to work out these problems.”
In other business, the Eutaw City Council:
• Approved the 2018 ‘Back to School’ Sales Tax Holiday from July 20-22, 2018;
• Approved travel to the Alabama Association of Chiefs of Police Conference in Orange Beach from July 29 to August 2, 2018 for Chief Derrick Coleman and Assistant Chief Beck; and
* Cancelled the regular City Council meeting set for June 26, 2018.
* The City of Eutaw will be closed July 4,5,6, 2018 for Independence Day

Total of $375,580 disbursed to all agencies : All county bingo facilities contribute to Greene County Health System for November

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Bingo Distribution.jpg

Shown above: Bingo Clerks Minnie Byrd and Emma Jackson; Mayor of Union Jams Gaines; Greene County Board of Education, CSFO Katrina Sewell; Sheriff Jonathan Benison; Kinya Isaac Turner representing the Town of Forkland; Brenda Burke representing the County Commission, Assist Chief Walter Beck, Shirley Edwards Greene County Hospital Board member, and Boligee Mayor Louis Harper.

On Friday, December 15, 2017, Greene County Sheriff Department distributed $ 375,580 in monthly bingo allocations from the five licensed gaming operations in the county. The recipients of the monthly distributions from bingo gaming designated by Sheriff Benison in his Bingo Rules and Regulations include the Greene County Commission, the Greene County Sheriff’s Department, the cities of Eutaw, Forkland, Union, Boligee, the Greene County Board of Education and the Greene County Hospital (Health System).
The following assessments are for the month of November 2017.
Greenetrack, Inc. gave a total of $67,500 to the following: Greene County Commission, $24,000; Greene County Sheriff’s Department, $9,000; City of Eutaw, $4,500; and the Towns of Forkland, Union and Boligee each, $3,000; Greene County Board of Education, $13,500 and the Greene County Health System, $7,500.

Green Charity (Center for Rural Family Development) gave a total of $67,500 to the following: Greene County Commission, $24,000; Greene County Sheriff’s Department, $9,000; City of Eutaw, $4,500; and the Towns of Forkland, Union and Boligee each, $3,000; Greene County Board of Education, $13,500, the Greene County Health System, $7,500.
Frontier (Dream, Inc.) gave a total of $67,500 to the following: Greene County Commission, $24,000; Greene County Sheriff’s Department, $9,000; City of Eutaw, $4,500; and the Towns of Forkland, Union and Boligee each, $3,000; Greene County Board of Education, $13,500, Greene County Health System, $7,500.
River’s Edge (NNL – Next Level Leaders and TCCTP – Tishabee Community Center Tutorial Program) gave a total of $73,750 to the following: Greene County Commission, $24,000; Greene County Sheriff’s Department, $9,000; City of Eutaw, $4,500; and the Towns of Forkland, Union and Boligee each, $3,000; Greene County Board of Education, $13,500, and the Greene County Health System, $13,750.
Palace (Tommy Summerville Police Support League) gave a total of $99,330 to the following: Greene County Commission, $4,620; Greene County Sheriff’s Department, $36,960; City of Eutaw, $27,720; and the Towns of Forkland, Union and Boligee each, $4,620; Greene County Board of Education, $4,620 and the Greene County Health System, $11,550.

TSPSL donates two All Terrain Vehicles to Sheriff Department

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Sheriff and 4 wheeler

Cutline: L to R: Sheriff Jonathan Benison, Shelia Smith with the Tommy Summerville Police Support League, Chief Deputy Jeremy Rancher, Cpl K-9 Deputy LaJeffery Carpenter, Deputy K-9 Benny.

 

Two All Terrain Vehicles (ATVs) were recently donated to the Greene County Sheriff’s Office. The two 2018 Polaris Sportsman 450 H.O. Four Wheelers were donated by the Tommy Summerville Police Support League which is the charity at The Palace Bingo, the latest electronic bingo entity licensed by Sheriff Benison.
The ATVs will be used to assist deputies on Project Life Saver and K-9 searches, rescues and when needed as crowd control at special events as well as during incidents such as severe weather. They may also be used in ares of high crime for off road surveillance by law enforcement officers.
Sheriff Benison stated: “This is just another example of how Amendment 743 Electronic Bingo is vital to our community. Through my rules and regulations the TSPSL was able to have the funds to provide my department with this equipment and we appreciate them for it. We will now be able to go into places our everyday vehicles wouldn’t allow. This advancement cuts down on the time it takes to get to individuals in emergency situations.”

Alabama AG Marshall files lawsuits to stop ‘electronic bingo’ in Greene and other counties

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Sheriff Benison revised bingo rules to provide funds to hospital

Last week, the Greene County Democrat received from Sheriff Benison, a revised copy of Section 4 of the Electronic Bingo Rules for Greene County. The revised rules provide for the Greene County Health Services, which includes the Hospital, Nursing Home, Physicians Clinic and related health care facilities, to receive $25.00 per bingo machine to support healthcare for Greene County residents.

The new rules are effective as of October 1, 2017 and will provided needed revenues for the hospital with the November
distribution of bingo funds.

 

(MONTGOMERY)—Attorney General Steve Marshall announced Wednesday the filing of multiple lawsuits against casinos in five counties that continue to operate “electronic bingo,” on what he calls illegal slot machines in defiance of state law.  The lawsuits call upon local circuit courts to prohibit the defendants from promoting, operating and transporting “electronic bingo” machines and slot machines in those counties.
The civil lawsuits were filed in Greene, Houston, Lowndes, Macon and Morgan counties against the operating casinos, machine manufacturers and vendors, and the governmental authorities responsible for licensing and overseeing electronic bingo operations in those counties. In Greene County, the lawsuit was filed against all five bingo operators, bingo machine providers and Sheriff Jonathan Benison.
“It is the responsibility of the Attorney General to ensure that Alabama’s laws are enforced, including those laws that prohibit illegal gambling,” said Attorney General Steve Marshall.

“Through multiple rulings in recent years, the Alabama Supreme Court has made it abundantly clear that electronic bingo and the use of slot machines are illegal in all Alabama counties.  Therefore, we have taken action to hold accountable those who defy the laws of our state.  These lawsuits represent a comprehensive legal approach developed by the Attorney General, with the assistance of the Office’s career experts, to finally put a stop to illegal gambling.”
Responding to the lawsuit, Sheriff Benison stated, “First of all as Sheriff of Greene County I would like to clarify and say that we do not operate as casinos, and never tried to portray ourselves as such.  We are approved, legalized electronic bingo facilities.  This is legal because we the citizens of Greene County voted overwhelmingly in 2006 for Amendment 743 to provide for electronic bingo.”
Sheriff Benison continued, “We have been operating and providing jobs and funding for Greene County through this Amendment.  I don’t know about the other counties filed in the lawsuit but as for Greene County, even the shortest closure of our Electronic Bingo facilities will result in a devastating economic downfall for our county.  We don’t have big industries or factories that our county runs off of; electronic Bingo is our livelihood.
“Thousands will be affected because so many are direct recipients of funds made through electronic bingo, such as, Greene County Board of Education, Greene County Commission, Greene County Hospital, Greene County Nursing Home, Firefighters Association, E-911, City of Eutaw, City of Forkland, City of Union, City of Boligee, Greene County Sheriff’s Office and not to mention 16 sub charities that are incorporated to make sure everyone is provided with help.
“This is all of our youth, senior citizens, our law enforcement. These are the hundreds of employees that each one of the facilities employs.  What are they to do if they lose their job?  I am shocked about this news, but we are willing to do whatever is necessary to make sure that our vote for Amendment 743 was not done in vain.”
Luther Winn Jr., CEO of Greenetrack issued a statement saying in part,
“AG Marshall’s actions have real-life consequences. By his own hand, Marshall has now jeopardized the jobs of 115 mothers, fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers, who work at Greenetrack. These are good-paying jobs with health insurance and retirement benefits. Don’t let Marshall fool you – this lawsuit signals his willingness to increase Alabama’s unemployment, food stamp and Medicaid rolls by 115 from one facility here in Greene County. Marshall’s lawsuit also jeopardizes Greene County E-911 and fire protection for the entire county, both of whom are completely dependent on bingo revenues.”
Winn goes on to say, “We question AG Marshall’s motives and timing. It is worth noting that AG Marshall has accepted campaign contributions from two individuals and two out-of-state law firms with gambling ties.”
Winn says that he has made numerous complaints to Federal officials, including U. S. Attorney Jeff Sessions about corruption which has been involved in the fight against electronic bingo and efforts to violate the voting rights of Greene County citizens who overwhelming supported a referendum for Alabama Constitutional Amendment 743, which authorizes electronic bingo in the county.
Since assuming office in February, Attorney General Marshall has continued to assist other agencies and district attorneys in the enforcement of anti-gambling laws in Alabama.  The multi-county lawsuits filed last week are the culmination of ongoing investigations into these casinos and gambling ventures around the state.   The civil complaints call for the closure of the casinos because the illegal gambling they offer presents legal nuisances in the state.
Many of these cases are based on an Alabama Supreme Court case in which the justices define bingo in great detail, as a game played on paper cards, with five rows across and five columns down, in which a player must actively participate in dabbing their numbers and recognizing and calling-out when they have a winning bingo. The courts have ruled that electronic bingo machines are in reality “slot machines” and are therefore illegal.
AG Marshall has brought his legal action in the local circuit courts of the counties where the electronic bingo games are played. It will take some time before these cases are heard and a more definitive decision can be made by the courts on the future of electronic bingo.

Sheriff Jonathan Benison meets with GCHS Board; commits to change ‘bingo rules’ to provide major support to save hospital

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By: John Zippert,
Co-Publisher and Chair of GCHS Board of Directors

GCH.jpg

The Board of Directors of the Greene County Health System (GCHS) Board met with Sheriff Jonathan Benison and his electronic bingo staff twice in the past three weeks, on August 25 and September 12, 2017 to urge him to take action to support the hospital, which is in danger of closing due to financial problems.
The GCHS Board submitted a letter to Sheriff Benison on August 30, 2017 placing in writing its suggestions to help the health care system in Greene County.
These suggestions included: collection of a 4% tax imposed on bingo machine operators, in June 2016, which has never been enforced or collected; raising the per machine fee, paid by bingo operators from $200 to $225 and giving those proceeds to support the GCHS on a monthly basis, and other steps to help the hospital become more financially self sufficient.
In the meeting, this week on September 12, 2017, Sheriff Jonathan Benison and his attorney Flint Liddon and bingo staff announced that he was going to change Section 4 of the electronic bingo rules to provide an additional $25 assessment, on all bingo machines, in all five bingo establishments, in Greene County, with the funds going to the Greene County Health System to support the hospital, nursing home, physicians clinic and other services.
This change will be instituted effective November 1, 2017 to allow the bingo establishments time to adjust their budgets and operations.

Currently, based on data provided by the Sheriff and his staff, there are 2,032 bingo machines at the five bingo establishments in Greene County which means that based on current numbers, the GCHS would receive $50,800 per month from the proceeds of this rule change. The Sheriff said that he thought that the number of bingo machines in the county would hold steady at around 2,000 or above.
This means that the GCHS could expect to receive $600,000 per year in support from electronic bingo in the county sanctioned under Constitutional Amendment 743.
Rosemarie Edwards, a Board member from the Boligee area, said, “I want to thank the Sheriff for his decision to increase the fee on each bingo machine by $25. This will help to keep the hospital open and provide needed medical services for Greene County residents. I hope people in the community will support the Sheriff in his new bingo rules.”
Eddie Austin, Board member from the Forkland area, indicated, “I know of a person, within the last week, whose life was saved and stabilized by the Greene County Hospital Emergency Room. We all need our hospital to stay open and offer quality services. I commend the Sheriff for responding to our pleas for support.”
Pinnia Hines, Board member from Eutaw and former employee said, “With the commitment from the Sheriff to change bingo rules and provide substantial support for the hospital, nursing home and associated services, we will have certainty and stability to keep the facilities open. I thank the Sheriff for his decisions and I urge the community to support and unify behind these necessary changes.”
In response to a question from the Board, about what the Sheriff will do if the bingo operators do not agree to and comply with his per machine fee rules changes, Sheriff Benison said, “ I hope they will agree but if they don’t, I will have no choice but to enforce the rules and close down those who do not pay the funds to support the hospital.” Hank McWhorter, the Sheriff’s Bingo Enforcement Officer pulled out some large pre-printed stickers, which would be attached to the doors of those bingo establishments that did not comply with the new rules changes.
Attorney Liddon stated, “We do not really know how much money is passing through these bingo machines but we are sure it is enough to meet the conditions of these rule changes. We know the operators will not like these changes and may cry out that they are too expensive, but the Sheriff is determined to go forward to make these changes to assist the hospital.”
John Zippert, Chair of the GCHS Board, said, “We welcome and support the Sheriff’s decision to raise the per machine fee by $25 to assist the Greene County Health System. This infusion of $50,000 a month will be a significant and substantial help to the facility to meet its deficit of $100,000 per month. Our monthly deficit is roughly equal to the ‘uncompensated care’ we provide to low-income people from Greene County each month.
“The Board and the people of Greene County we represent, thank the Sheriff for his rule change and support for the GCHS. The Board will work with the people to find the rest of the revenues and savings to erase the deficit. More Greene County people must use the GCHS facilities and services; we must fill the 20 vacant beds in our nursing home; we must fully utilize the three doctors and two nurse practitioners in the health clinic; we must fully utilize all the services of GCHS.
“Our Board will also seek support and contributions from other public and private sources, including the Greene County Commission, the State of Alabama, Medicare, Medicaid, private foundation grants and other support. We will also work for better state and national health policies which will treat rural people and facilities fairly and recognize our contribution to the nation’s health care status and the well-being of our people.”

Sheriff Joe Benison meets with Hospital Board to discuss bingo funds

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Sheriff- Hostil

L to R: GCHS Board members: Margaret Bir, Sheriff Benison, Lucy Spann, Elmore Patterson, Jasmine Smith, Pinnia Hines, Shirley Edwards and Rosemary Edwards. Not shown are Eddie Austin and John Zippert who also attended the meeting.

Greene County Sheriff Jonathan “Joe” Benison, together with his executive assistant and bingo clerks, met with the Greene County Health System (GCHS) Board of Directors as part of their regular meeting on Tuesday, April 18, 2017. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss with the Board their concerns over the status of payments from electronic bingo parlors to the GCHS, which operates the hospital, nursing home, physicians clinic and home health services.
On June 2, 2016, Sheriff Benison adopted a new rule for bingo which stipulated that the Greene County Hospital was to receive a fee of 4% of the amount paid to vendors, who provide bingo machines, to be paid to the hospital for providing health care services to the residents of Greene County.

The Sheriff adopted this rule change as a way to share some of the revenues generated by electronic bingo, under Alabama Constitutional Amendment 743, with the Greene County Health Care System.
Based upon estimates from the bingo clerks, Elmore Patterson, CEO of the Greene County Health System projected receiving $3,500 per month from each of the four operating bingo parlors as of June 2016. This would total $14,000 per month or $168,000 per year.

The GCHS Board informed the Sheriff that since adoption of the rule in June 2016, the health facilities have not received these 4% fees from the vendors. The GCHS has received an average of $5,133 per month for the hospital and $ 1,104 per month for the residential care center (nursing home). These averages include a one-time payment of $30,000 from Greenetrack and smaller donations as a sub-charity from all of the bingo operation. The Anchor Group, the charity operating the River’s Edge Bingo facility is the only operation that has been paying the 4% vendors fee under the Sheriff’s rules.
Sheriff Benison said that he understood the Greene County Health System’s concerns with the shortfall in the 4% vendors fee.
He said that he wanted to discuss this with the bingo operators, including the Palace Bingo, a new electronic bingo hall at the Knoxville Exit on Interstate 20/59. He said that after he consults with the bingo operators that he and his clerks would report back to the GCHS Board of Directors.
Elmore Patterson thanked the Sheriff for attending the meeting and said, “Health care is critical to Greene County. The GCHS is providing quality health care to residents of Greene County and surrounding areas. I just reported to the Board that we had an overall operating loss of $538,000 for the first six months of this fiscal year, which began October 1, 2016. This loss matches the half a million dollars of uncompensated care that the GCHS provided to Greene County citizens, during the same time period, with limited incomes who lack insurance or other health care payers. We are looking to electronic bingo, the county government and others sources to help us cover our deficit which basically comes from serving the people of our county who are poor and not covered by any health insurance.”
All of the GCHS Board members also thanked the Sheriff for coming and listening to the concerns of the community. The members said they hoped to hear some positive response from the bingo establishments and the Sheriff in the coming weeks.

Greene County Commission ratifies agreement with Sheriff on budget

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The Greene County Commission held a special called meeting on Thursday, December 29 at 4:30 PM to ratify an agreement to approve the Sheriff and Jail Budget based on the Sheriff’s Department collecting $5 per bingo machine in fees from each bingo operator retroactive to February 2016.
County Attorney Hank Sanders reported on an agreement that he had worked out with Sheriff Benison, in the presence of the special judge handling the on-going dispute between the Sheriff and the Commission over the budget, personnel, repairs to the jail and the Sheriff’s contribution from bingo funds to the Commission’s operating account.

The Commission adopted the following motion, “Be it resolved, that the Sheriff and Jail Budget for Greene County be based on the FY 2013-14 budget amount; and based on the installation of additional security cameras in the amount of $7,687; and based upon the Sheriff certifying that notice was given to the bingo operators and charities to pay the additional $5 per machine retroactive back to February 2016.”The Sheriff and Jail Budget for 2013 and 14 was $1,623,177. The retroactive payment at $5 per machine for the eleven months, since the agreement in February 2016, is estimated to be $70,000 .
The Commissioners questioned Attorney Sanders before their vote as to how the Sheriff was going to pay the retroactive amount. Sanders said that the amount would likely not be paid in a lump sum but in periodic payments over time. He said that a timetable was not specified but that the Judge would be monitoring the agreement to be sure both sides complied with their obligations under the agreement

Sheriff Benison provides $30,000 to Greene County Hospital Greene Co. electronic bingo bill defeated in Alabama Senate; Meeting in Branch Heights to explain status of bill and next steps

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News Analysis
by John Zippert,
Co-Publisher

Sheriff and CEo of Hospital.jpg

Photo includes Sheriff Benison, Jasma Colvin, Alicia Jordan, Jalessa Jones and CEO Elmore Patterson shown providing a check for $30,000. Shown below meeting held at the Branch Heights Center on Bingo with represenatives Bobby Singleton and AJ McCampbell.

 Bingo in Branch Height.jpg
The past week saw many developments related to the future of electronic bingo in Greene County.
Eutaw Councilman Joe Lee Powell and County Commissioner Corey Cockrell convened a meeting at the Branch Heights Community Center for the county’s legislative delegation to explain their efforts to assist Greene County.
Senator Bobby Singleton and Representatives Artis McCampbell and Ralph Howard were present to explain their efforts to pass SB 340 to amend Greene County’s Amendment 743 to strengthen the legal basis for electronic bingo in the county.
SB 340 also allowed electronic bingo at only one site in the county, which is Greenetrack, since it is already approved for pari-mutuel gambling on greyhound dogs and horses. The bill also would have changed the formula for distribution of bingo funds to county agencies and charities. It also removed the regulation of bingo from the exclusive control of the Sheriff to a five member Greene County Gaming Commission.
The proposed bill included a provision that three-quarters of one percent of the annual gross revenues of electronic bingo would be paid to the Greene County Housing Authority. Based on projected annual gross revenues of $50 million, the Housing Authority would receive approximately $375,000 per year. “ Under our plan, the Housing Authority could use these revenues to finance a bond issue that would repair the roads and streets in Branch Heights, ” said McCampbell. Bobby Singleton said, “ Our goal was to legally protect bingo in Greene County and we needed support from the Republican super-majority in the Legislature to get this done. Some Republicans do not want to vote for any form of gambling; others want to reduce the spread of gambling; and some legislators want to help the Native Americans that have bingo in their casinos.”
“We felt we had the 21 votes needed to pass our amendment in the Senate. We hoped we had all eight Democratic Senators and even changed the bill to accommodate some of their concerns. We had some Republicans who promised that if we got 19 or 20 votes they would vote with us, to put us over the top.
“We were very disappointed that we only got 17 votes because two Democrats, who are African-American, Senators Hank Sanders of Selma and Vivian Figures, voted against the bill which effectively killed our chance to pass it,” said Singleton.
Singleton said, “ I know the rules of the Senate and worked hard with my personal relationships to get enough support to pass it. We changed it to accommodate various concerns by Senator Sanders and others. We tried to calm the opposition of the Native Americans. We included a 4% state tax to provide revenues for the state. We did everything we could but we needed a few more votes.”
A lady in the audience was very concerned that the proposed bill would result in the closure of the other three bingo parlors and put their employees out of work. Singleton responded that this was done to insure the legal survival of bingo and show that the growth of bingo establishments would be curtailed and concentrated in one place. “ We hoped that most of the people, who may have lost their jobs, would be hired by Greenetrack, who would need more employees. In the past, Greenetrack had 400 to 500 employees making living wages with a good benefits package.”
Hodges Smith, speaking on behalf of the 14 volunteer fire departments in the county said, “From 2003 to 2011, when bingo was exclusively at Greenetrack, $2,9 million was provided to the Greene County Firefighters, since 2011, we have received $259,000 from Greenetrack and $8,208.24 from the other bingo places combined. The Firefighters, E-911 and Woman-to-Woman are the three charities supported by Greenetrack, in addition to funds that the four bingo establishments pay to the Sheriff for distribution to county agencies, municipal governments and the school system.
Iris Sermon of E-911 said, “We can see what is happening because we are not united. The state Legislature may sponsor a lottery and cut out bingo all together. E-911 has been assisted by Greenetrack when the county government and other agencies could not support our critical services.”
Luther “Nat” Winn, CEO of Greenetrack came into the meeting late. He challenged the group,” Tell me who owns the other bingo establishments in Greene County. We do not know who owns them. We do know who owns Greenetrack and they are all people from Greene County. We have let other people come in and take advantage of Amendment 743 but they are not helping to protect it. We pay a cashier $41,000 a year, plus benefits, but we never hear what the others pay their employees. They are not paying living wages and supporting charities outside of Greene County. Greenetrack used to give college scholarships to every Greene County graduate. We cannot do this any more because the bingo revenues are scattered.”
John Zippert, a member of the Greene County Health System Board, reported that members of the GCHS Board had met with Sheriff Benison and asked that he increase the $200 per bingo machine fee by $25 a month and give those funds to help keep the Hospital and Nursing Home open providing services to Greene County residents. The Sheriff said he would consider this request and review it with the four bingo operators. He made an immediate grant of $30,000 to help the GCHS meets its current critical financial situation.
Mr. Winn said, “I’m not sure Greenetrack, under the current state of affairs, could afford an increase in the monthly fee and be able to pay its other expenses.”  Winn also made no clear declaration that he would employ people from the other bingo businesses if this bill were ever passed restoring Greenetrack’s exclusive rights to operate electronic bingo in Greene County.
In response to a question from Val Goodson of Citizens to Make Greene County Better about the future of bingo legislation, Singleton said, “We were trying to do the right thing for Greene County. We can introduce the bill again in a Special Session of the Legislature, but the people of Greene County need to be behind it and help us push it through.”