Texas Supreme Court to hear arguments in case over Fort Worth’s game room regulations
The Texas Supreme Court is set to hear arguments Tuesday morning over eight-liner gambling machines in Fort Worth and the extent to which the city can regulate them.
The case stems from ordinances the Fort Worth City Council passed in 2014 that regulated where game rooms could be located, including restricting them to industrial-zoned areas and banning them from being within 1,000 feet of schools, churches, hospitals or residential areas .
At the time, game room operators and gaming machine companies quickly sued the city. Portions of the ordinance related to restricting game rooms to certain areas were struck down, although the city is still allowed to enforce some building requirements, hours of operation and more.
While the case stems from Fort Worth’s ordinances, both the city and slot machine operators involved in the lawsuit are asking the Texas Supreme Court to address broader questions that could affect how cities are allowed to regulate the popular slot machines, often known as eight-liners.
The city has asked the Texas Supreme Court to address whether the eight-liner slot machines constitute “lotteries” — which the Texas Constitution forbids — after the 2nd Court of Appeals held that it didn’t have jurisdiction to consider the issue. The city also seeks to have the machines deemed unconstitutional, on the the basis that they are illegal gambling devices, and not exempt under a section of Texas Penal Code.
While gambling that results in cash payouts is illegal in Texas, under state law there is an exception for machines that are used solely for entertainment purposes and dole out small, non cash prizes, like at Chuck E. Cheese locations.
Known as the “fuzzy animal” exception, game room owners are legally allowed to operate eight-liners, as long as prizes are cashless and aren’t worth more than $5 or 10 times the cost to play the game.
But the rules are often broken, and Tarrant County residents have long complained game rooms are hotbeds for crime.
In the view of the eight-liner operators, the city’s ordinances overstepped what state law allows, and operators argued that various sections of Texas law pre-empt the city’s requirements.
While the 2nd Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s ruling that sections of Texas law pre-empt the city’s ordinances — it did not side with the operators’ claim that Chapter 2153 of the Texas Occupations Code completely preempts local regulation.
While the extent of the city’s oversight has been debated in the courts, a 2017 state law extended regulatory authority over game rooms to Tarrant County.
And in November, Tarrant County Commissioners unanimously adopted a long list of requirements for game room owners, requiring permits, limiting hours of operation and more.
It’s unclear how the case’s outcome may affect the county ordinance on the books, as local officials declined to comment on the case ahead of Tuesday’s arguments.
This story was originally published January 28, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
