Jarvis said the Missouri legislature now is being pushed by Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz, R-Sullivan, to give the Missouri Gaming Commission (MGC) the power to go after these machines. That would be done principally by going after the liquor licenses of the establishments that have these gray market machines, Jarvis said.<\/p>\n
Missouri either needs to crack down on these machines \u2026 or has to bring these machines out of the shadows by giving their owners\/operators a way to get them licensed,\u201d<\/strong> Jarvis added.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nLegalization under his approach is a much better approach than prohibition, Jarvis added.<\/p>\n
Missouri\u2019s statute gives the state attorney general \u201cconcurrent jurisdiction\u201d to go after gray market machines, so the attorney general is supposed to act whenever a local prosecutor fails to act.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo date, however, the attorney general has not seen fit to use his\/her jurisdiction,\u201d Jarvis said.<\/p>\n
Local Prosecutors Have Different Priorities<\/h2>\n
\u201cAll laws need to be applied equally and evenly throughout a state. But different local prosecutors have different priorities based on the needs of their communities and their constituents\u2019 wishes,\u201d Jarvis said.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s just a matter of political will on the part of prosecutors to enforce the law, or on legislators to change the law,\u201d<\/strong> he added.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nIn addition, it is common for a prosecutor who is looking to make a name for himself\/herself, or who is under pressure from a group of local citizens, to go after gray market slot machines, according to Jarvis.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt makes for great headlines and great visuals on the evening news,\u201d Jarvis said. He notes that earlier this month, a backhoe was used to destroy the machines. That visual was included in news reports.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Five video gaming machines were demolished by a backhoe earlier this month in Platte City, Mo. after they were ruled illegal by a local court. It marked the state’s first successful prosecution of a gaming vendor in such a case. But there remains a dispute about the devices. Similar machines are still in use in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":189750,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,13592],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Missouri Gaming Devices Need To Be Uniformly Regulated, Law Profs Say<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n