This afternoon in a 6-3 vote, the Alabama Supreme Court granted a stay on the St. Clair electronic bingo issue. The court voted to temporarily halt electronic bingo in the county.

St. Clair District Attorney Richard Minor has requested that the 600 electronic bingo machines already in use in Ashville be removed immediately.

An ongoing legal battle has been fought in the halls of justice over the last three months between Shooting Starr, LLC, the City of Ashville and District Attorney Minor and Sheriff Terry Surles regarding the legality of electronic bingo in the county. The D.A. and Sheriff asked last week for a ruling on the case. The pressing issue brought before the court by the D.A. and sheriff was the wording of a state amendment passed in the 1980s that allowed for traditional card bingo to be played in St. Clair County. Minor and Surles argued that “electronic card bingo” was not legal based on the wording of the original amendment.

For more on the outcome of the ruling, see the June 25 issue of the New-Aegis or check back at NewsAegis.com as events unfold.