SB379 Alabama 2010 Session

This bill proposes a general law that will relieve non-Indian operators of bingo and operators of maritime gaming on cruise ships docking in the City of Mobile from certain legal disabilities that do not apply to Indian tribes conducting bingo under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act

To recognize that Indian tribes may conduct bingo games using electronic bingo equipment under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act ("IGRA") free of certain legal burdens that potentially encumber (i) the operators of maritime gaming on cruise ships docking at saltwater ports in the state and (ii) the non-Indian operators of bingo games in the state that are equivalent to the bingo games conducted by Indian tribes; to relieve certain qualified persons engaged in maritime gaming and federally recognized bingo from legal burdens that are not applicable to Indian tribes conducting competitive bingo games; to define terms that include or are relevant to substantive provisions of this act, including Class II gaming under IGRA, federally recognized bingo, maritime gaming, and any qualified person to be relieved of legal burdens under this act; to provide limitations on the scope of this act; to provide that no criminal prosecution under any provision of Title 13A, Chapter 12, Article 2, Code of Alabama 1975, shall be brought or maintained against any qualified person for engaging in maritime gaming or federally recognized bingo; to provide that bingo equipment permitted to be used in Class II gaming under IGRA shall not constitute, or be deemed to be, a "gambling device" or "slot machine" within the meaning of Section 13A-12-20(5) and (10), Code of Alabama 1975, if such bingo equipment is used by a qualified person engaged in federally recognized bingo; to preclude the forfeiture by any qualified person of real or personal property used or involved in maritime gaming or federally recognized bingo; to declare that certain "gambling devices" as defined by federal law may be transported into or out of the state without violating federal law; to provide that the provisions of this act shall be severable; and to specify the effective date of this act and to provide for a termination date.