CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Since the 2023 ordinance went into effect, the Nueces County Sheriff's Office has shut down several game rooms. Chief Deputy David Cook tells KRIS6 reporter, Tony Jaramillo how much one of these small game rooms can make a year if they are involved in illegal activity.
"Last game room we hit, conservatively, very conservatively, I would estimate they were pulling in about 8 million dollars a year," Cook said.
Chief Deputy Cook explained what exactly a permit allows game rooms to legally do.
"Simply authorizes them to operate the game room business," Cook said.
He said that doesn’t mean you can get paid when you spin the wheel in the state of Texas.
"So if they walk into a game room and they put their money into a machine, and they hit a jackpot and the payout is more than 5 dollars, that is illegal gambling.
Chief Deputy Cook shared these documents with reporter Tony Jaramillo, showing which game rooms currently have a permit to operate and which have run out of luck.
"We are pretty positive about our progress. I think we’ve had 13 since 2023," Cook said.
Despite the NCSO working with CCPD, Cook said he wishes there were more resources.
"I recently made a presentation and asked for additional personnel, but resources are limited, they determined they didn’t have the money to do that so we make do with the resources we have," Cook said.
Cook explained why it is difficult to shut down some game rooms.
"People ask, why do you even need a warrant? Why do you don’t you just walk in and shut them down if you’re operating? Well, they started locking their doors. So if we don’t have a warrant to make entry, and their door is locked, we can’t make entry," Cook said.
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