Alabama Bill Would Elevate Gambling Convictions to Felonies

Posted on: September 16, 2024, 12:06h. 

Last updated on: September 16, 2024, 01:35h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.

Alabama is among the most limited states when it comes to gambling. The Cotton State has no commercial casinos or racinos, iGaming, sports betting, or even a state-run lottery. New legislation would implement harsher penalties for those who don’t abide by the restrictive gambling rules.

Alabama gambling crime penalty
An electronic bingo hall in Alabama’s Jefferson County is pictured. New legislation in Alabama seeks to provide harsher penalties for people who knowingly violate the state’s ban on most forms of gambling. (Image: AL.com)

State Rep. Matthew Hammett (R-Covington) last week introduced House Bill 41. The statute seeks to increase penalties associated with various gambling-related crimes.

The measure would specify that electronic bingo games and so-called skill games, as well as historical horse racing (HHR) machines and video lottery terminals, are illegal under the Alabama Code.

Penalties for a person knowingly profiting from illegal gambling would be raised from a Class A misdemeanor to a Class C felony, the latter of which is punishable by one to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $15K. The current punishment schedule as a misdemeanor subjects those found guilty of gambling crimes with up to a year behind bars and a $6,000 fine.

Under Hammett’s bill, penalties for those found guilty of subsequent gambling violations would face Class B felony punishments, which include two to 20 years in prison and a possible fine of up to $30K or double the defendants’ monetary gains from their illegal gambling operations.

Gambling Referendum Fell Just Short

Alabama lawmakers earlier this year rejected by the narrowest of margins an effort to allow voters to decide if they wished to end the state’s prohibition on commercial gambling.

In early May, a special conference committee recommended to the Alabama Legislature that the state ask voters to authorize three tribal casinos with slot machines and table games, and seven racinos where only slots would be allowed. The committee additionally recommended that a state-run lottery be initiated.

For Alabamans to have a say, the gaming referendum bill needed three-fifths majority support in each legislative chamber. The House of Delegates met the threshold but the effort fell a vote shy in the Senate.

Whatever side you were on with the gambling bills last session, whether you were yes or no, everybody agreed there’s a problem in this state with illegal gambling,” Hammett told AL.com.

State Sen. Greg Albritton (R-Atmore) was cited for the failure, as he was among the 15 “no” votes in the upper chamber. Albritton has been a longtime supporter of legalizing casinos but said he voted against the referendum because it didn’t allow the Poach Band of Creek Indians to pursue a commercial casino development on nonsovereign land. The federally recognized tribe runs a Class II tribal casino in Albritton’s Atmore.

Hammett was among the “no” votes to the gaming referendum in the House. 

Prosecutors Want Harsher Penalties

Hammett crafted HB 41 at the request of Covington County District Attorney Walt Merrell who says the state’s current penalty structure does little to thwart illegal gambling. Merrell opined that the misdemeanor penalties amount to a little more than a “slap on the wrist” and aren’t enough to scare off those considering engaging in illegal gambling.

Casino.org has, in recent years, reported on numerous incidences of law enforcement raiding illegal gambling operations.

Just this month, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said illegal electronic bingo machines that were under a temporary restraining order while law enforcement sought to obtain a seizure warrant vanished from a business in Selma. Marshall’s office said police later found the unlawful gaming terminals in Lipscomb, more than 80 miles north.

The state subsequently charged a handful of individuals with felony burglary charges. The owners of the Selma operation were only charged with misdemeanors, as currently allowed by state law.