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State lawmakers have approved a ban on prostitution in unincorporated Jefferson County, and now Commissioner Bettye Fine Collins said she wants the community to support an effort to tackle video gambling. Following Tuesday's commission meeting, Mrs. Collins said a rally is set for May 23 to pressure lawmakers into banning video gambling in the county. She also wants to raise awareness about the prostitution ban, because it must be approved by county voters before it takes effect. "It's just unbelievable to me, that we've got prostitution and gambling in abundance in Jefferson County," considering how they are supposed to be illegal in most cities in the county, she said. "This is a serious problem." Commissioners last week asked sheriff's officials and the district attorney to add their voices to those of citizens who plan to rally on May 23 at Hilldale Baptist Church against gambling and prostitution. Residents met at the church last month to express their anger and frustration with prostitution houses posing as massage parlors and with gaming machines that are de facto gambling machines. Because county commissioners don't have the ability through state law to make their own local laws, they have to depend on the Legislature to pass local laws. The Legislature last week passed a law that makes it a Class A misdemeanor for a person to engage in sex for money or anything of value. However, voters in the county must decide in a referendum to enact the law, which would apply only to Jefferson County. The law is the first that would restrict prostitution in unincorporated parts of any county in the state. Without the law, a person can legally sell sex as long as the act takes place outside of police jurisdictions where it was against municipal laws. The sheriff's department's biggest success in breaking up a prostitution ring came in 1995 when it raided a Center Point massage parlor. Deputies went through trash and found hundreds of used condoms and bills that showed the owners profited from sex for "tips." A jury in 1997 convicted a couple who owned the parlor for promoting and profiting from prostitution, which is illegal. Although gambling in Alabama is illegal, slick game makers modify machines to get around the state's fairly useless anti-gambling law, sheriff's officials say. Sheriff's Col. Billy James and Lt. Dennis Blanton said they want another gambling law that's less vague and gives them stronger authority to deal with slot machines and video "games of skill" that are in fact gambling machines. Otherwise, they said, deputies don't have any legal reason to confiscate them from convenience stores and other places where they're openly played. "You can't go into a convenience store in Jefferson County where you can't find at least one. It's a lucrative business for the owners," Blanton said. "I even talked to one lady who plays regularly at one place. She said for $10, she can stay all day long. They give her free sandwiches and cappuccinos." |