Three casinos in Macon and Lowndes County are still operating after making slight changes despite an Alabama Supreme Court ruling last year that some believed would put casinos there out of business.
The Supreme Court of Alabama ruled in September that "electronic bingo" was illegal in Lowndes and Macon Counties.
However, according to a report in the Montgomery Advertiser on Sunday, those casinos "are still operating, and the games offered there are similar, albeit with some changes."
Casinos that previously offered "electronic bingo" in these counties included VictoryLand Casino in Shorter and White Hall and Southern Star Entertainment in Hayneville.
While the three casinos no longer offer "electronic bingo" machines, White Hall and Southern Star casinos allow customers to play machines "similar to slot machines" and require them to "play a game of paper bingo before collecting their winnings," according to the Montgomery Advertiser.
VictoryLand uses machines that "allow players to place pari-mutuel bets on simulated historical horse races." There "haven't been any indications that the state will try to stop the operations soon," according to the outlet.
According to an opinion written by Alabama Supreme Court Justice Greg Shaw in September, "the Macon Circuit Court and the Lowndes Circuit Court erroneously denied or exceeded their discretion in denying the State's request in each case for injunctive relief prohibiting the Macon County defendants and Lowndes County defendants from continuing to engage in the illegal gambling activities at issue."
"Accordingly, we reverse their orders and remand these cases for the Macon Circuit Court to enter an order, within thirty days of this Court's issuance of the certificate of judgment, preliminarily enjoining the Macon County defendants, and for the Lowndes Circuit Court to enter an order, within thirty days of this Court's issuance of the certificate of judgment, permanently enjoining the Lowndes County defendants, from offering "electronic bingo" machines at any facility in their respective county, from receiving any moneys in relation to "electronic bingo" machines in operation in their respective county, from transporting or providing any additional "electronic bingo" machines to any facility in their respective county, and from receiving, utilizing, or providing bingo licenses or permits to play "electronic bingo" in their respective county," Shaw wrote in his opinion. "Further proceedings in the Macon Circuit Court on the State's request for a permanent injunction shall be consistent with this opinion. Finally, because White Hall has waived all arguments at issue in its cross-appeal relating to the dismissal of its counterclaims, that portion of the Lowndes Circuit Court's order is hereby affirmed."
All three decisions dealing with the "electronic bingo" issue were affirmed by the Supreme Court of Alabama's eight other justices.
The three cases were as follows:
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