Here's where you cannot play skill games ... and where you can (for now)
Virginia is expected to take up the now-banned future of so-called “skill games” during the 2024 legislative session. In the meantime, those machines have either gone dark or are on life support until the end of December, depending upon where they are.
A check of Tri-City area localities by The Progress-Index shows that two of the five – Petersburg and Dinwiddie County – have unplugged the machines at businesses within their limits. Two others, Hopewell and Prince George County, extended a delay on the ban until the end of the year.
Colonial Heights is still devising its strategy on how to enact the prohibition.
The ban, originally enacted in 2020 by the Virginia General Assembly, was originally delayed by then-Gov. Ralph Northam due to the COVID-19 epidemic. The following year, the ban was started but quickly stopped after an Emporia business owner filed a lawsuit against it, resulting in an injunction.
That lawsuit was set to go to trial next month. However, last month, the Virginia Supreme Court lifted the injunction, and a Circuit Court judge threw out the lawsuit. State Attorney General Jason Miyares issued directives for localities to begin implementing the ban by Nov. 16 but also allowed those localities some leeway in enacting it.
The skill games, which had been fixtures in convenience stores and bars across the area, resemble slot machines. However, they differ because, unlike a slot machine where the results are solely on chance, skill games offer players a chance to maneuver the results to their benefit.
Petersburg opted to start its skill-game ban on Nov. 16, the date Miyares recommended. City spokesperson Joanne Williams said vendors were given letters from City Manager March Altman reminding them to pull the plugs on Nov. 16 or risk facing misdemeanor charges that carried up to a year in jail and up to $2,500 in fines.
Dinwiddie enacted its ban Nov. 20. Sheriff’s Office Major William Knott said he delivered the enforcement letters to about 19 businesses throughout the county. So far, he said, the county has not had any issues with businesses or citizens trying to get around the ban.
Some businesses took the machines out while others turned them off and placed notices on them saying they could not be played
“As long as it is shut down or unplugged from the wall,” Knott said, adding that everyone in the county has complied.
Penalties are not just applicable to business owners. Anyone caught playing one in an area where it is banned faces a fine of up to $500 if convicted.
Officials in Hopewell and Prince George County opted for a grace period before ordering merchants in their areas to turn the machines off. In both localities, the machines will go dark Dec. 31.
The ban does not apply to nonprofit organizations such as Moose or Elks lodges, or Veterans of Foreign Wars posts that have the machines. Because the proceeds from sales in those games go toward charities supported by the groups, they are covered by Virginia’s charitable-games laws.
“I thought about that when we first started talking about (enforcement),” Knott said of the carve-out for the nonprofits. “That was one of the first questions I asked the county attorney because I knew I was going to get asked.”
The ban may not last for very long, as legislation is expected in the 2024 General Assembly to address concerns about the content and taxability of the games. State Sen. Bill Stanley, R-Franklin County, who was the lead attorney for the Emporia business owner’s case, is expected to sponsor that legislation.
As of Nov. 29, nothing had been pre-filed, according to the General Assembly legislation’s portal.
Bill Atkinson (he/him/his) is an award-winning journalist who covers breaking news, government and politics. Reach him at batkinson@progress-index.com or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @BAtkinson_PI.
This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Tri-Cuty localities take different approaches to skill-game ban
