Gambling in Alabama: bill that would increase penalties pre-filed for 2025 legislative session

The bill would increase the penalties for breaches of the state’s gambling prohibitions.

US.- A bill in Alabama that would increase penalties for illegal gambling operations has been pre-filed for the state’s 2025 legislative session. The bill would also add clarification to existing legislation to specificy that electronic bingo and horseracing machines are prohibited in the state.

If the bill is passed, promoting gambling, possessing a gambling device or conspiracy to promote gambling would become Class C felonies for first-time offences and Class B felonies for third or more offences. They are currently Class A misdemeanors.

Alabama Representative Matthew Hammett, who proposed the bill, said: “We’re not going after these people that’s operating under a constitutional amendment, like dog or horse tracks,” Hammett said. “That’s not the purpose of this bill. It’s strictly for these illegal operations outside of the CA’s.”

The Alabama Attorney General’s Office recently ordered the shut down of five venues in Selma that were alleged to have housed slot machines and gambling devices for illegal gambling.