A Republican state representative from south Alabama has introduced a bill that would increase penalties for illegal gambling operations from misdemeanors to felonies, an effort to strengthen laws that do not appear to be working.
The bill by Rep. Matthew Hammett would raise the range of sentences and fines for possession of electronic gambling machines and other offenses and impose harsher penalties for repeat violators.
Hammett worked with Covington County District Attorney Walt Merrell on putting more teeth in the law after seeing convenience stores in his district selling scratch-off tickets, like those offered in states with legal lotteries. Merrell told Hammett there were limitations on how effective he could be in stopping the activities.
“He said, ‘Look, I can’t do anything but just slap them on the wrist.’ And I said, ‘What can we do?’ So, that’s how we came up with it,” Hammett said.
There is wide agreement Alabama has a problem with illegal gambling. That was a selling point used by supporters of a bill to allow a lottery and casinos and create a gambling commission that passed the Alabama House earlier this year but failed by a vote 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,” said Hammett, who voted against the plan.
An example of the problem is in Jefferson County, where electronic gambling halls continue to pop up despite enforcement efforts by Attorney General Steve Marshall.
Merrell said he can generally stop illegal activities like the scratch-off tickets or a slot machine in a convenience store with a cease-and-desist letter. But that does not stop violations from turning up again.
Merrell said he has used an undercover agent to document the illegal activity. But prosecution can be complicated, especially for a crime that is just a misdemeanor.
“You’ve got this store clerk that is getting paid $10 an hour to be in there selling Co-Colas and candy bars,” Merrell said. “Are we really going to prosecute them when the owner is the one profiting from it? Or maybe somebody is leased into the store to profit from it.
“So that was one issue that we’ve always kind of dealt with. And then the other is that the law, even if you were prosecuting the person that was ultimately responsible, the law just doesn’t have a lot of teeth to it.”
Under current law, a person who promotes gambling, defined as knowingly profiting from an illegal gambling operation, can be charged with a Class A misdemeanor, which is punishable by up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $6,000.
Hammett’s bill would change promoting gambling to a Class C felony, punishable by 1 to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $15,000. On a second offense, promoting gambling would be a Class B felony, punishable by 2 to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $30,000.
Merrell said the bill would structure the gambling laws similar to those against DUI and domestic violence.
“If criminal laws don’t deter crime, then the criminal law is not effective,” Merrell said. “It needs to be rewritten. I hope that that’s the end result, that it deters illegal activity.”
The bill defines illegal gambling machines. It includes historical horse racing machines in that definition. Historical horse racing machines operate, for the player, like slot machines. But the outcome of each spin is based on the results of past races the machines have stored in an electronic library. The machines are in use at the casinos at three Alabama greyhound tracks – Birmingham Race Course, Victoryland in Macon County, and Greene County Entertainment – and operate under the laws that allow pari-mutuel wagering at the tracks.
Hammett said he did not intend to target the former dog tracks and would amend the bill accordingly.
“That’s not the people we’re going after,” Hammett said. “If they’re going to have those type machines, that’s the place to have them, at the tracks, dog tracks, horse tracks. That is not the intent of the bill.”
Merrell concurred with Hammett on that point.
“There was no intention on our part to make anything that’s currently legal illegal,” Merrell said. “I can just tell you that that was not our intent.”
Hammett, whose full-time occupation is operating a company that drills and services water wells, has pre-filed his bill for the legislative session, which start Feb. 5. He said he planned to discuss the bill with other members of the House Republican caucus at a meeting next week.
Merrell said he flatly opposes gambling.
“The statistics are very clear that be it illegal or legalized, gambling hurts local economies, increases poverty, increases addiction, increases crime,” Merrell said. “And so, just from a holistic standpoint, I’m opposed to any form of gambling.”