Troy King moves to take over White Hall bingo case
MONTGOMERY — Attorney General Troy King filed court motions to take over the case against White Hall Entertainment Center today, his first official action in a battle with Gov. Bob Riley for control over gambling cases.
King made filings in circuit court and the Alabama Supreme Court in the White Hall case, but he has yet to take over any cases involving other casinos in the state and has set no timeline to take such action, according to Chief of Staff Chris Bence.
In a statement, King said that his goal is to get a definitive answer on the legality of the slots-like electronic bingo machines at the heart of the gambling controversy.
“To take our eyes off this goal will only create further delays and continue down the course that, for fifteen months, has been long on drama and circus-like theatrics but short on results,” the statement said.
Todd Stacy, Riley’s press secretary, said that Riley disagrees with King’s approach to gambling cases but is happy that courts will decide the matter.
“The governor’s very pleased that the issue of who has authority over the Task Force on Illegal Gambling is before the Supreme Court,” Stacy said. “We’re confident that our position will prevail because the constitution says that the chief of the executive branch in Alabama is the governor, not the attorney general.”
Officials load electronic games onto a truck outside of White Hall Entertainment in White Hall, Ala., on Thursday, March 19, 2009. Attorney General Troy King is attempting to take over the case against the center
Criticizing Riley’s approach to the state’s gambling controversy, King announced last week that he planned to take control of the state’s gambling cases and fire Mobile County District Attorney John Tyson Jr. as commander of Riley’s Task Force on Illegal Gambling. Riley and Tyson objected, vowing to fight the move in court.
Riley and King have long feuded over gambling, and Riley left King off of the task force when he created it in December 2008. Riley believes that slots-like electronic bingo machines are illegal statewide. King contends that they may be legal forms of bingo in some Alabama counties.
King has also criticized the large-scale, pre-dawn attempted casino raids that Riley’s task force has conducted, saying the matter should be resolved in courts through declaratory judgments.
Last month, Circuit Judge Robert Vance ruled that King had authority over the task force and ordered the attorney general to state his position on the group. The governor’s office appealed, and the Alabama Supreme Court has requested that arguments in the case be filed by tomorrow.
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