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Triana reacts to Judge's decision over gaming machines

By Jeanie Powell - bio | email

TRIANA, AL (WAFF) - WAFF 48 News was first to tell you when a complaint was filed against the Madison County Sheriff in his official capacity for the seizure of gaming devices.

Now, a federal judge is siding with the sheriff.  

The judge pretty much said these are slot machines.

While proponents say they liked the cash these machines brought to their town, the sheriff says operators weren't playing by the book and he's not going to tolerate it.

In late November of 2007, WAFF 48 News spoke exclusively to the judge advocate for the Texas VFW who says the nonprofit chose Triana because state law and town ordinance allow for class two bingo.

But law enforcement has firmly stated that town ordinance does not supersede state law.

A federal judge just affirmed that the operation tied to the Texas nonprofit was not considered legal bingo.

The ruling refers to raids in November of 2007 and March of 2008.

The mayor of Triana was elected to office in November 2008 and while she wouldn't agree to an on-camera interview about this issue, she told us if it's going to benefit her community, she's all for it; if it's illegal, she's against it.

Mary Caudle said there haven't been any more operations come to town since she entered office.

County attorney Julian Butler explained the law to WAFF 48 News in the past. 

"The Alabama constitution trumps what a city can do and the Alabama constitutional amendment says a city can pass an ordinance so long as it is in accord to everything that's in the constitutional amendment," explained Butler.

"I have read the Triana city ordinance and it is my opinion that the Triana city ordinance is not in accord," Butler continued.

We asked Mayor Caudle if changes would be made to the existing town ordinance that recognizes electronic bingo.

She didn't respond with a definitive answer, but said she and the council won't allow for the electronic kind of bingo in her community; instead, they'd go paper.

James Parcus used to have sweepstakes machines in Triana.

"They are slot machines, I guess, but at the time they said that was fine, and then they took them out," said Parcus.

He owned The Chicken Shack and a family store established in 1957.

Both are closed for business.

Parcus said taxes from machines others brought in helped stimulate revenue.

"We didn't have any crime. Matter of fact, we had a lot more business," said Parcus.

He's asking for consistency across the board.

"Lynwood Smith has been a judge for a long time," said Parcus. 

"My daddy was friends with him and I know he's a good and fair man, but when the Attorney General of the state says they're not illegal, I don't understand why they got em in Jasper, not got em in Triana," said Parcus.

Madison County Sheriff Blake Dorning says his job was to enforce the laws of Madison County and the state.

"You can have two sessions a week and pay out no more than $1,000 per session and in our investigation we found that there were thousands and thousands of dollars being brought in and being retained by the persons that were responsible," said Dorning.

Operators have been charged and Dorning said their cases should go to trial soon.

We asked the sheriff if there's any evidence of other illegal operations in the county.

He said there are none that he knows of, but if he hears otherwise, he'll act immediately.

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