Manatee County on the verge of new ordinance against strip-mall casinos

The Manatee County Commission is poised to vote on an ordinance first proposed last year to crack down on strip-mall casinos, in response to an investigation by Suncoast Searchlight and the Bradenton Herald found illegal gambling dens were operating in open defiance of state law.

Under the proposed ordinance, the casino operators could be issued a cease-and-desist order, a civil citation, or be taken to court. Operators also could be charged with a second-degree misdemeanor — punishable by up to 60 days in county jail and a $500 fine — if they maintain five or more “gambling devices,” have previously violated the ordinance, or ignored a cease-and-desist letter.

Commissioner Tal Siddique has pushed for the new ordinance since September in response to a series of stories from Suncoast Searchlight and the Bradenton Herald. He hopes the proposed measure will define the arcades more clearly under county law and create a licensing system to root out violators.

The ordinance states that in Manatee County there has been a “proliferation of establishments” that utilize “simulated gambling devices:” casino games and contests such as electronic slot machines.

It also echoes reporting by the Suncoast Searchlight and the Bradenton Herald that found the unregulated businesses are deceptive to customers, difficult for law enforcement to monitor, and hotbeds of other criminal activity.

READ THE FULL INVESTIGATION: Florida’s illegal gambling dens are hiding in plain sight

The joint investigation revealed how these so-called “adult arcades” have evaded area law enforcement for years, closing down on one block just to reopen on another. Authorities say that’s because of the lengthy legal and financial hassle of dismantling these operations — and the minimal return, since arrests often result in just a misdemeanor.

These storefront casinos target fixed-income seniors with unregulated odds — sometimes refusing to pay jackpots — and become magnets for drugs and crime. During the past five years, law enforcement responded to hundreds of calls to these casinos for burglaries, fights, stolen cars and drug overdoses, the newsrooms’ investigation found.

As of March 10, the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office estimated there were about 25 such illegal casinos in the county.

The hope is that by giving county code enforcement and the sheriff’s office a clarified role would give local officials more teeth to apply existing state law.

“If you can implement civil fines on the operators of these establishments, then you can discourage them by making them liable financially,” Siddique said.

Siddique said discouraging those who want to open casinos in Manatee County would be easier than shutting down those that already exist. Suncoast Searchlight and Bradenton Herald reporting has found that it can be extremely costly for law enforcement to both investigate them and impound and store bulky slot machines.

Siddique said the businesses were essentially “pop-ups,” and law enforcement officials had described combating them as playing a game of wack-a-mole.

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Violators of Florida’s gambling laws can face up to five years in prison and fines of $10,000 per machine, however, those types of punishments are rare, especially for first time offenders.

Siddique had previously told the Suncoast Searchlight that the businesses tend to propagate in distressed shopping centers, where they can make big margins on lower rents.

Manatee County’s effort was modeled after the enforcement policies of Marion County, which passed a similar ordinance in 2021 and saw illegal casinos vanish within months from the community.

The ordinance would also require an enforcement policy agreement between the county and the sheriff’s office. Manatee County Sheriff Rick Wells has previously signaled he would be in favor of tighter local rules, with an office spokesperson saying the sheriff “supports the idea of increased regulation on the operation of these businesses.”

Randy Warren, a spokesman for the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office, said the agency is still working with the Florida Gaming Commission and supports finding a way to more effectively enforce state law.

“We’ll be there to enforce whatever the county comes up with,” Warren said.

Manatee County commissioners are expected to review the proposal when they return from break on July 28.

This story was produced by Suncoast Searchlight, a nonprofit newsroom of the Community News Collaborative serving Sarasota, Manatee and DeSoto counties. Learn more at suncoastsearchlight.org.