Chickasaw Bingo Moving Ahead

If some officials in Chickasaw have their way the old municipal auditorium will be transformed into a bingo hall.

“This facility would match up with all of those legal requirements,” says Chickasaw City Councilman Adam Bourne. He supports the proposal. Bourne says he's undeterred by recent raids elsewhere in the state.

“While there is some machines that assist in the game ultimately the player is playing off of a paper card which is different from any other facility you've seen throughout the state,” says Bourne. He says gambling isn’t a cure-all for the city but it could help.

“One of my dreams for Chickasaw is to have our own school system and a well paid and staffed police force and I feel like this could lead us in that direction,” says Bourne. Despite big plans, the head of the governor's Illegal Gambling Task Force John Tyson Jr. is skeptical.

“My experience is they are all slot machines and as such are strictly prohibited by Alabama law as I understand it,” says Tyson. He says he's reserving judgment on Chickasaw until he sees the entirety of the city's plans. He says he's merely enforcing the letter of the law.

“And when we try to run roughshod over the system and establish something illegally we threaten the rule of law and the rule of law is what keeps us all equal,” says Tyson. The Chickasaw City Council votes on its bingo ordinance February 9th.