In August, LubbockLights.com covered an in-house dispute among Lubbock County officials over a game room ordinance. Commissioner Jason Corley and Sheriff Kelly Rowe agreed game rooms were cauldrons for crime. The disagreement was how to regulate them.
On Monday, the Commissioners Court will consider an update to the current ordinance which first went into effect May 1 last year.
The issue originally came up for debate in late 2024 amid reports of shootings, robberies and assaults at game rooms. The ordinance itself cited human trafficking and illegal gambling at game rooms near residential areas.
Only one game room is allowed per 30,000 people in the unincorporated areas of the county, which works out to a single permitted location. Existing operators could only continue under grandfathering provisions. In August, the county had 45 game rooms – nearly all of them grandfathered.
If passed the changes will:
Strengthen current enforcement
Narrow qualifications for grandfathering existing game rooms
Change the appeal process
The current ordinance already puts a list of requirements in place, which we covered here.
To clear up and strengthen enforcement, the Tax Assessor’s Office is the exclusive final authority on game-room licensing. The assessor was already the permit administrator, but there’s new clarifying language in the proposal.
“No other representative from the county can override the exclusive authority of the Permit Office. Any decision or opinion offered by a person or entity that is not the Permit Office shall have no force or effect,” the proposal said.
Immediate suspensions are already possible, but the proposal adds new language for anyone “acting on behalf of a game room.”
Under the current ordinance, a game room can be grandfathered if it remains in continuous operation at the same location. But the proposal adds one more thing. It must remain under the same ownership. Adding another owner or even changing the name strips away grandfather protection.
The successful suspension or revocation of a game room permit also strips away grandfather protection if the proposal is approved.
Anyone needing a grandfathered permit must show up in person to apply.
The appeal process, if approved, will change. Instead of going to a Justice of the Peace (acting as an appeal officer), the issue goes to a board.
“Hearings will be conducted by a Game Room Hearing Board consisting of residents of Lubbock County appointed by each county commissioner, the county judge, the county sheriff and the county tax assessor collector. A Board member shall not be an owner, employee, agent, or other representative of a game room … ,” the proposal said.
If approved, the changes take effect on February 23 – the same day as the commissioners meeting.
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