Members of the Lipscomb City Council repealed a bingo ordinance at a special-called meeting on Monday after the Alabama Attorney General’s Office froze the city’s assets following an investigation into alleged illegal gambling operations in the area.
According to WBRC, Deputy Attorney General John Kachelman said in court on Monday that the state had already released the majority of city funds. However, Lipscomb’s bingo fund and another operational fund used to make payroll were still frozen. The city moved at least $200,000 from the bingo fund to the operational fund.
“Those are ill-gotten gains,” Kachelman said, according to WBRC. “They shouldn’t be able to profit from those, which they have all year long.”
According to the outlet, Jefferson County Circuit Judge David Carpenter agreed to extend the restraining order on Lipscomb for a week if the state releases enough money for city employees to be paid.
“We want to comply; that’s why the city repealed its ordinance, so it wouldn’t be an issue going forward,” Lucien Blankenship, Lipscomb’s city attorney, told WBRC.
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