Attorney General Says He Can Direct Tyson and Task Force

Attorney General Troy King says he has the authority to direct the actions of the commander of Governor Bob Riley's Anti-Gambling Task Force but it's an option he won't exercise--"Yet," he said. At a news conference King instead advised the Governor and Tyson to immediately seek court rulings regarding the legality of electronic bingo. The AG included a three-point plan for implementing his advice.

Three hours later, task force commander John Tyson held his own news conference that included six points. He declared that the courts, including the Alabama Supreme Court have already ruled, more than once, on the issue--and that the task force would continue its work.

"The Supreme Court expressly stated that the legality of electronic bingo in Alabama had not been brought before it and therefore they were expressly declining to answer it," said King.

"The Supreme Court of Alabama has ruled twice in just the last four months that these illegal slot machines are not bingo," Tyson countered.

"As you all know, a simple, definitive answer from the Alabama Supreme Court would become indisputable law," King said.

King said the option of exercising his power to intervene with the task force became more important by the threat of a showdown between armed law enforcement officers over GreenTrack in Green County, Alabama. It is the only facility still open offering electronic bingo. In an in-depth interview with News 5, Tyson said the task force is completing investigations regarding GreenTrack and will take appropriate action. He did not say when that could happen, saying, "Most of the time its better to sneak up on people engaged in criminal activity."

King also said he did not mean for his statements today to be a threat of impending action against the task force by the Attorney General's office. To that, Tyson responded, "The Attorney General knows what his powers are and he basically announced today that while he was going to give advice he was not going to do anything. So the work of the task force will continue."

King would not set a time table on when or if he might exercise powers of the Attorney General's office to intervene with the task force.