In a unanimous vote, the Jacksonville, Florida city council approved banning casino-style “simulated gambling devices” offered at internet cafes and shops. At least four deaths have been connected to robbery attempts at internet cafes in Jacksonville within the past year.
Councilman Al Ferraro, who introduced legislation, said, “This is about public safety. We have a problem where people are coming from outside our state and outside our county because they’re thinking that these gambling devices are not illegal. And we need to do something about it We have families that are reaching out to us and they’re begging us to do something about it.” Councilman Reginald Gaffney added, “We’ve been talking about this for four year. You can ride down almost every block and you’ll see an internet cafe or a gambling machine. If they’re illegal, we need to move on it.”
City Attorney Jason Teal said about 110 businesses hold city certificates authorizing them to operate. The new bill will allow them to keep their gaming devices until February 1, 2020. However, observers said several hundred businesses could be affected since many operate without city permits; those will be identified during separate city inspections.
Council President-elect Scott Wilson said, “I also believe that all of these businesses are giving out cash, so I believe that makes them illegal. Hopefully we can move on and close these illegal businesses down.”
Businesses violating the new law could be fined $250 per day, or taken to court and fined $2,000 for a first offense, $5,000 for a second and $10,000 beyond that. In addition, property owners who allow outside parties to operate the machines in their buildings can be fined $1,000 for each violation.
The bill does not prohibit people from owning the regulated devices as individuals—only from using them commercially. Also it allows nonprofits to operate gaming events twice a year.
