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Gaming Rooms Future In Doubt?

    Gaming rooms may soon become more scarce in Lake County, after the Lake County Commission last week approved the creation that would eliminate its ordinance that regulates such facilities.  In a 5-0 vote, commissioners instructed staff to return with an ordinance that if approved would remove the county from any oversight and instead place any such operations under only state law, with the state claiming in a recent meeting that all gaming rooms operating today are illegal.
    The county began regulating gaming rooms in 2021, with an ordinance that among other things limited the number of facilities in unincorporated areas, which the county has jurisdiction over.  However, recent contact from the Florida State Gaming Control Commission to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office stated its belief that all gaming operations not specifically carved out in state law are illegal, and gaming room activities in the county do not meet state statutory thresholds.
    “That started all of this,” said Mary Ellen Stern of Lake County, who presented the issue during a commission meeting on April 23.  During that meeting, staff presented an ordinance for consideration that would create new outlines for gaming room operations with the idea of clarifying what is legal and illegal.  “It was never intended to make an illegal activity legal in Lake County,” Stern said of the current ordinance.
    Louis Trombetta, Executive Director of the Florida Gaming Control Commission, addressed the commission electronically during the meeting, and reiterated the state’s belief that Lake County gaming operations are illegal.
    Also appearing were representatives of the sheriff’s office, who stated that the county’s current ordinance, and likely the new ordinance, clouds the office’s ability to make arrests associated with activities at gaming rooms.  Instead, the office supported removing the county ordinance completely, which removes any potential legal wiggle room when looking to advance prosecutions by relying solely on state law. Vance said potential prosecutions are complicated by the county having a law that appears to make certain uses legal.
    "The statute gives us all the tools we need," said Shawn Vance of the sheriff's special investigations bureau. Vance said that in addition to illegal gambling activity, gaming rooms have shown to be magnets for other illegal activity.
    "I support abolishing them altogether," said commissioner Leslie Campione.  "The people of Lake County don't want these in our county".  Campione added, "You can't continue an activity that is considered illegal by the State of Florida."
    “We should stay out of it,” said commissioner Josh Blake in supporting the eventual vote to abolish the county’s ordinance, and commission chair Kirby Smith said if the county’s ordinance is making it harder for the sheriff’s office to investigate gaming rooms, it needs to go.
    “I didn’t realize having that ordinance would affect the ability of the sheriff’s office to do its sworn duty,” Smith said.
    Attorney Kelly Mathis, who along with Michael Hatfield is representing the gaming room interests, spoke to the commission in support of keeping an ordinance on the books, stating that the gaming going on is legal, and that’s why law enforcement hasn’t acted.
    But the argument didn’t sway commissioners, who are expected to move to eliminate the county’s role in gaming in the near future.