Greene County leaders vow to fight bingo lawsuit

Oct. 05--Greene County leaders vowed this week to defend the state's latest attempts to shut down bingo facilities in the county.

The Alabama attorney general's office on Wednesday filed civil lawsuits seeking to shut down casinos it said are operating illegal slot machines under the guise of bingo.

The new civil lawsuits filed in five Alabama counties are a different strategy from that used previously when the state raided casinos to seize machines and gambling proceeds.

Greenetrack CEO Luther "Nat" Winn issued a statement early Thursday.

"As the song goes: the new boss is the same as the old boss," he said. "While we have not had a chance to review the lawsuit, we will vigorously fight to protect the constitutional amendment that the voters of Greene County ratified which allows these games in Greene County."

Sheriff Joe Benison, who issues bingo licenses and distributes proceeds to organizations in the county, released a statement late Wednesday.

"First of all as Sheriff of Greene County I would like to clarify and say that we do not operate as casinos, never tried to portray ourselves as such," he said. "We are approved, legalized electronic bingo facilities. This is legal because we the citizens of Greene County voted overwhelmingly for Amendment 743 to have such."

The bingo business has created many jobs in Greene County, he said, and any closures would greatly affect the economy in the least-populated Alabama county, also one of the poorest in the country.

"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," Benison said. "We don't have big industries or factories that our county runs off of; electronic bingo is our livelihood."

Thousands would be affected, he said, because they are direct recipients of funds generated through bingo, including the Greene County Board of Education, Greene County Commission, Greene County Hospital, Greene County Nursing Home, Firefighters Association, E-911, the cities of Eutaw, Forkland, Union, Boligee, the Greene County Sheriff's Office and 16 charities that provide social services.

"This is all of our youth, senior citizens, our law enforcement," Benison said. "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."

The suits were filed in Greene, Houston, Lowndes, Macon and Morgan counties against casino operators, gambling machine manufacturers and the governmental authorities responsible for licensing and overseeing bingo operations in those counties. The Greene Count suit names Greenetrack Inc., Greene Charity, Frontier Bingo, Palace Bingo and Benison as defendants.

Winn echoed Benison, saying closures would jeopardize 911 and fire protection for county residents.

"Marshall's actions have real-life consequences," he said. "By his own hand, Marshall has now jeopardized the jobs of 115 mothers, fathers, grandmothers, and grandfathers. These are good-paying jobs with 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 people in Greene County alone."

Winn questioned Marshall's motives and said he would communicate with U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions regarding the lawsuits.

"For months, local leaders and others have been providing evidence and information to United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions regarding the corruption which has been involved in the fight against electronic bingo and the attempts to violate Greene County voting rights. We will be providing US Attorney General Jeff Sessions with additional information in light of this filing today and we will be calling on him in the next several days to take action."

Marshall, in a statement announcing the lawsuits Wednesday, said the Alabama Supreme Court "has made it abundantly clear that electronic bingo and the use of slot machines are illegal in all Alabama counties."

"It is the responsibility of the Attorney General to ensure that Alabama's laws are enforced, including those laws that prohibit illegal gambling," Marshall said.

The State also filed motions requesting that the circuit courts grant preliminary injunctions to cease unlawful gambling operations in counties while the lawsuits are pending.

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