{"id":474256,"date":"2026-10-23T06:42:08","date_gmt":"2026-10-23T06:42:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/474256\/"},"modified":"2026-10-23T06:42:08","modified_gmt":"2026-10-23T06:42:08","slug":"san-antonio-committee-pauses-councilwomans-proposal-to-ban-eight-liner-machines-heres-why","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/474256\/","title":{"rendered":"San Antonio committee pauses councilwoman’s proposal to ban eight-liner machines. Here’s why."},"content":{"rendered":"

Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez said San Antonio leaders should not become “the morality police” when it comes to prohibiting eight-liners outright. <\/p>\n

SAN ANTONIO \u2014 A panel of San Antonio City Council members wants to wait for potential state legislation before moving forward with a proposal to ban eight-liner machines within city limits.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Governance Committee voted Wednesday to delay consideration of the Council Consideration Request (CCR) filed last month<\/a> by District 5 Councilwoman Teri Castillo. The committee, chaired by Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones, cited concerns about potential lawsuits, but also said it wanted more information on how enforcement would be bolstered.<\/p>\n

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This story continues below.<\/p>\n

Gambling is illegal under state law, but there’s a grey area when it comes to that enforcement and the extent to which eight-liners \u2013 which operate similarly to traditional slot machines you might find in casinos \u2013 may be more comparable to carnival games when it comes to their payout.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Legal experts say that’s because a provision under state law\u00a0<\/a>makes way for exceptions to gambling crimes when it comes to machines that operate more as a manner of amusement. But crucially, they’re limited by what they can award: non-cash prizes of under $5 or no more than 10 times what it cost to play.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you start paying out in cash, that\u2019s when it\u2019s considered illegal because it\u2019s considered a game of chance,\u201d SAPD Assistant Director Richard Riley told the Governance Committee.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

Castillo pointed to this exception in her CCR, saying it’s still up to the machine operator to determine how an eight-liner will be used. In instances where law enforcement has busted\u00a0<\/a>illegal gambling operations and seized eight-liner machines, it’s often the manner of the payout\u00a0<\/a>that authorities reference \u2014 bringing the operation across the line into one of potential criminality.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The San Antonio Police Department’s Human Exploitation Unit investigates illegal gambling in the Alamo City and has seized more than 300 illegal eight-liners so far in 2026, according to the department. The Bexar County Sheriff’s Office says it has seized another 423 eight-liner “motherboards” while issuing 45 citations since the start of 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n‘Too much opportunity for litigation’ <\/p>\n

District 3 Councilwoman Phyllis Viagran urged the Governance Committee to wait until lawmakers have an opportunity to potentially address the issue at the state level, saying she wants to avoid legal complications.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lawmakers can start filing bills for the 2027 Texas Legislature on Nov. 9. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Viagran said moving forward with a local ban could create legal complications, particularly if state lawmakers consider legislation addressing the machines.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs it stands, I feel like there\u2019s just too much opportunity for litigation, and I don\u2019t think that\u2019s what we need right now,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

Although it remains to be seen if lawmakers will address eight-liners specifically in the 2027 session, recent history suggests they will at least try.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2021, state Rep. Richard Pena Raymond (D-Laredo) had sought to empower residents<\/a> to petition for the ability to vote on outlawing eight-liner machines in a given county. In 2023, Raymond tried again<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Neither effort reached a House committee.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2025, during the last Texas Legislature, state Sen. Mayes Middleton (R-Galveston) sought to close the oversight gap by explicitly labeling<\/a> eight-liners a “gambling device.” Senate Bill 517 was approved by the Texas Senate, but didn’t go any further.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But some local governments in the Lone Star State have taken the step\u00a0<\/a>of banning eight-liners\u00a0in recent years<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nEnforcement concerns <\/p>\n

Potential legal challenges were not the committee\u2019s only concern.<\/p>\n

District 2 Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez said he was approached by Castillo about supporting her CCR. He didn’t, saying City Council “should not become the morality police.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe risk creating new enforcement obligations and potentially subjecting more businesses and individuals to punitive action without actually improving public safety or community well-being,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

McKee-Rodriguez said the city should instead take more steps to educate operators and business owners about the law and step up accountability when there are violations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jones agreed with McKee-Rodriguez, saying that “it’s very difficult to ordinance out morality” and wondered whether the focus should be on addressing economic challenges that may lead residents to use eight-liners in the first place.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Councilman Edward Mungia was warmer on the proposal, but said he wanted the Public Safety Committee to take a look at the CCR first.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The committee voted 4-1 to delay the CCR and reconsider it in the next two months, with Mungia the lone dissenter.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Castillo told KENS 5 in a statement, however, that time is of the essence.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Eight-liner machines are grossly unregulated, which gives them free rein to prey on our community,” she said. “Cities and counties across Texas have successfully passed laws banning eight-liners. It is time San Antonio does the same.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez said San Antonio leaders should not become “the morality police” when it comes to prohibiting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":474257,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[82,84,83],"class_list":["post-474256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio-headlines","tag-san-antonio-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=474256"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474256\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/474257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=474256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=474256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=474256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}