Casino Watch Focus has reported on the various ways Florida has faced gambling expansion this year. From full-blown, mega-resort, Vegas-style casinos to simple slot expansion referendums, Florida has been facing gambling expansion pressures on all levels. Now, the courts will represent a skate in gambling expansion as a key slots expansion issue reaches the Florida’s 1st District Court of Appeals. The issue centers on whether or not Gadsden County has the ability to issue a slots license. Grenta Gaming, a pari-mutuel facility says yes, and the Florida Attorney Generals Office says no. The Saint Peters Blog explains:
The Tallahassee-based *1st District Court of Appeals* will hear arguments Wednesday afternoon regarding whether or not the Gadsden County pari-mutuel facility *Gretna Gaming* should be issued a state license to operate new slot machines.
Blocking its implementation is an opinion issued by the office of Attorney General *Pam Bondi*, who ruled that the referendum contradicts state law.
In a January 2012 letter, Bondi said the referendum was “non-binding,” because the operative department that would implement the slots “is not authorized to issue a slot machine license to a pari-mutuel facility in a county which … holds a countywide referendum to approve such machines, absent a statutory or constitutional provision.”
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