It’s time for a change in the Alabama Attorney General’s office. Troy King, appointed six years ago by Gov. Bob Riley, has been at odds with the Republican Party and, of late, has been a divisive figure in Alabama politics. His handling of the controversial electronic bingo argument has been questionable at best.He was even investigated by a grand jury.Is this what Alabama citizens want as the state’s top law enforcer? We think not.Luther Strange, a Birmingham attorney, says he wants to do the unfulfilled job King was appointed to do.“Never in the history of Alabama has the governor had to create a task force to do the attorney general’s job,” he said.“I think we’ve got and have had a law enforcement crisis in this state due entirely to his failure to take action. This wasn’t an issue until Troy King came into office. To come along at the 11th hour and take over the task force, he’s just thrown it into more chaos.”It’s time Alabama had an attorney general in office, not a politician.

The Alabama Supreme Court dealt Attorney General Troy King a severe defeat Friday while reinforcing the strength of the executive branch of state government. Legal battles over electronic bingo will likely continue for some time, but for now a definitive ruling has been issued: Governor outranks attorney general.The state’s high court was less than kind to King in its opinion Friday. He had contended that the attorney general was the state’s top law enforcement officer and that he should have control of any investigations into electronic bingo operations.While Gov. Bob Riley had used his Task Force on Illegal Gambling to shut down electronic bingo halls, King said he would seek court rulings in local jurisdictions. His play was backed by Jefferson County Circuit Judge Robert Vance, who ruled that King had authority over the task force.Riley appealed to the high court and won. In overruling Vance, justices said they relied on the “simple notion” that the governor sits at the top of the state’s constitutional hierarchy. As far as King’s contention that he should be able to commandeer leadership of the task force, the court was direct: “We reject that argument.”The justices came very close to accusing King of dereliction of duty. The justices said criminal laws regarding gambling have gone unenforced in some areas. Without action by Riley, they wrote, “the law would continue to go unenforced in those counties during Attorney General King’s tenure.”King did not comment last week, but Riley did. “This is a clear, complete and total victory for the rule of law,” he said.He added, “This ruling should put the nail in the coffin for so-called electronic bingo in this state.”Riley may be right, but we won’t bet on this being the end of the legal battles over gambling.Electronic bingo has gained a foothold in the state, however tenuous, and because big money is at stake we anticipate more legal battles, even before Riley leaves office in January.The big loser Friday, though, was King. Just more than a week away from the Republican primary election, the court’s ruling can’t help his campaign.

Tags: luther strange, troy king, elections 2010, alabama politics, The Opelika-Auburn News, The Gadsden Times