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Orange County game rooms could face new regulations due to overflow of illegal activity

Orange County officials said they're overflowing with illegal activity and are in great need of regulation.

ORANGE, Texas — Texas lawmakers haven't passed any legislation to allow gambling, so instead people are heading to game rooms. Orange County officials said they're overflowing with illegal activity and are in great need of regulation.

A public forum workshop was held on Tuesday with county commissioners and citizens about growing concerns with game rooms in Orange County.   

The goal of the workshop was to establish new guidelines and regulations, which if approved would bring changes to game rooms.

Game rooms could have a tax places in their machines, required background checks for employees and a mandated open-door policy could require uncovered windows and unlocked doors if the new regulations are passed.

The game rooms serve as an alternative to gambling in Texas, Orange County Commissioner Theresa Beauchamp said.

“It is not only the game rooms,” Beauchamp said. “It is what the game rooms bring in. People are very concerned."

In 2019, House Bill 892, which allows counties to license and inspect game rooms, was signed into effect. With game rooms moving from other counties to Orange County due to a lack of restrictions, it has made them a top priority for law enforcement.

“It is in the top three, because your attracting criminals here,” Ortega said. “Jefferson County more or less left because of the strict rules they had, and owners did not want to abide by those rules, so they said we will just shut down and go to the next place.”

Orange County officials are not against game rooms, but the issues that comes with them are a cause for concern, Ortega said.

“We are trying to pave a safer way for the youth in this community,” he said. “We are not doing that with them brining in narcotics and prostitution.”

The game rooms are not supposed to give out cash prizes, but most rooms are not following the rules, according to Orange County judge John Gothia.

“A lot of these game rooms find places to operate where there are not any restrictions, Gothia said.  “We have had a lot of them open up in some of the areas of our county.”

Since implementing regulations at the beginning of 2020, Jefferson County has seen the number of game rooms reduce by about 90 percent. Orange County is hoping to see the same result.

The Orange County community brought the problem to the attention of officials, so they are determined to put the regulations in place. If game rooms want to open up, they can. But, they have to operate a certain way, officials said.

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