Opinion ID: 2723232
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Amendment 744 to the Alabama Constitution

Text: In the State of Alabama, it is a crime to possess, “with knowledge of the character thereof,” a “slot machine” or “other gambling device, with the intention that it be used in the advancement of unlawful gambling activity.” Ala. Code § 13A-12-27. The Alabama Constitution, however, provides for the adoption of “amendment[s] which affect[] or appl[y] to only one county” if approved by, inter alia, a majority vote of the qualified electors in that county. See Ala. Const. amend. 555(a). The voters of Macon County approved local Amendment 744 in 2003. Amendment 744 legalized “[t]he operation of bingo games for prizes or money by nonprofit organizations for charitable, educational, or other lawful purposes” in Macon County. See Ala. Const. amend. 744. It also provides that “[t]he sheriff shall promulgate rules and regulations for the licensing and operation 2 Case: 14-10326 Date Filed: 09/03/2014 Page: 3 of 26 of bingo games within the county” and “shall insure compliance pursuant to any rule or regulation” and certain other specified requirements. Id.