Two electronic bingo halls in Lowndes County have closed this month after a judge’s order, a decision that was the latest development in a long-running effort by Attorney General Steve Marshall to shut down electronic bingo facilities across the state.
The closing of Southern Star and White Hall Entertainment is an economic blow to one of Alabama’s poorest counties, said Rep. Kelvin Lawrence, D-Hayneville. The two casinos sit on U.S. 80 between Montgomery and Selma.
“People can potentially lose their homes, lose their cars, because they don’t have any employment,” Lawrence said. “You had somewhere close to 150 to 200 jobs there and they’re all gone. It’s an area where we don’t really have the fortunes of determining what type of industry come to our small, rural county. So, any industry that closes, the economic impact is felt tremendously.”
Lowndes County Commissioner Robert Harris said Southern Star and White Hall Entertainment have been an asset for the rural community.
“It’s always been beneficial to the county,” Harris said. “I see no reason why it wasn’t. Once again, the jobs, the opportunity for people to use it for recreation. The venues that were used for entertainment to host different types of parties and receptions.”
Lowndes County Circuit Judge Cleveland Poole issued the order on December 30 in response to an order by the Alabama Supreme Court that came three months earlier. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the state’s request to ban the electronic bingo machines in Lowndes and Macon counties. It ordered the lower courts in the two counties to issue rulings accordingly. Poole’s order granted the state’s request for a permanent injunction barring Southern Star and White Hall Entertainment from offering electronic bingo and making money off the machines. Poole’s order became effective on January 15.
As for Macon County, AL.com did not find in online court records a ruling similar to Poole’s. Victoryland Casino in Macon County has offered electronic bingo and has been embroiled in the long-running dispute.
Voters in both counties approved constitutional amendments allowing bingo. Officials in the counties maintain that the electronic bingo games are not only legal but are an important source of jobs and revenue for public services in communities with limited opportunity. Officials also note they are the same machines used at the three casinos operated by the Poarch Band of Creek Indians in Alabama. Alabama tried to shut those down, too, but federal courts ruled the state had no jurisdiction over the Indian casinos.
For more than a decade, the Alabama Supreme Court has defined bingo as the traditional game in which players listen for numbers called out at random and mark their cards. The electronic bingo machines, which look and operate like slot machines, do not meet that definition of traditional bingo, the court has found.
Marshall, who has been attorney general since 2017, praised the Supreme Court decision on September 30 but declined to comment today on the closing of the two bingo halls in Lowndes County.
Lawrence said he expects discussions about legislation to address the closed casinos. The legislative session starts in March.
“I’m definitely considering it,” Lawrence said. “We’re talking to leadership and we are doing our due diligence, prior to the legislative session.”
Lawrence said efforts are under way to work with the Alabama Department of Labor to help those who lost their jobs. He said some of those who lost jobs might have to travel further to find employment in Greenville, Selma, or Montgomery.
“So that’s going to present a burden and a problem for some people that are kind of struggling with transportation,” Lawrence said. “But we’re going to try to help them work through those issues. And hopefully they can land somewhere where they can still take care of their families. And that’s the most important thing.”
Harris, a Lowndes County commissioner for 24 years, said state officials need to reconsider decisions that take away jobs in smaller counties like Lowndes that are already struggling with limited opportunities.
“They just take it away, then ain’t put nothing back,” Harris said. “So how do we pick up the pieces from the jobs that were lost?”
Marshall, in a September 30 press release praising the Supreme Court ruling in the state’s favor, touted what he said were successful efforts to shut down electronic bingo at River City casino in Morgan County in 2017 and at Center Stage casino in Houston County in 2018, as well as the Supreme Court’s ruling last summer that Greenetrack casino in Greene County owes the state $76 million in unpaid taxes and interest from its electronic bingo operations.
