Jefferson County Sheriff Mark Pettway has repeatedly said enforcing gambling laws is not a priority for his office.

A department spokesman on Monday said that stance has nothing to do with the sheriff’s brother’s possible involvement in a bingo establishment expected to open in Graysville. For the first time, Capt. David Agee on Monday publicly addressed questions over the involvement of businessman Bruce Pettway, the sheriff’s brother, in that operation.

Graysville Mayor Julio Davis last week said a new ordinance allows residents to buy a business license for charitable electronic bingo. He said he hopes revenue from those licenses will help replace revenue lost as the Lowe’s Home Improvement store closed earlier this year.

The ordinance allows qualified nonprofit organizations to buy a bingo hall permit, to be renewed on Oct. 1 of each year. Two different types of permits were created. A $250 Class A permit for only paper card bingo and a $2,500 Class B permit for “any and all games of bingo.”

Bruce Pettway’s name is listed on a business license obtained in Graysville for the site of the old Lowe’s building. Bruce Pettway did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Agee said he has no direct knowledge of Bruce Pettway’s possible involvement in the operation, but said it would not affect their stance on enforcement either way.

“I don’t know that to be true, but it has no bearing on our enforcement, our priorities,’’ Agee said. “Any person, any charity that goes and gets a business license and opens one of these businesses, they understand the risk. It's been determined by the Supreme Court that this is illegal gaming activity, so they risk municipal enforcement, county enforce or state enforcement and that applies to anybody.”

The comments came as sheriff’s officials opened the locked doors to a storage facility Monday to show media the hundreds of electronic gambling machines that sit idle and dusty, some from cases as far back as 2011.

The visual was meant to be a testament to the burden such investigations are to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, which is taking criticism from state officials for not making enforcement of the illegal activity a priority in the department.

For the third time in recent weeks, Agee, speaking on behalf of the sheriff, emphasized that violent crimes will take precedence over misdemeanor infractions.

“I can’t think of anybody ever going to jail about this electronic bingo,’’ Agee said. “They only thing they’ve ever been able to do is get these machines and put them in bingo jail. They sit and sit and sit.”

That stance has drawn criticism from Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, who sent Sheriff Pettway a letter reminding him of his enforcement role as sheriff.

In that letter, Marshall requested Pettway advise him, Jefferson County District Attorney Danny Carr and Bessemer Cutoff District Attorney Lynneice Washington if he learns of any electronic bingo halls opening or planning to open in the county.

Washington sent cease and desist letters to two bingo halls – Super Highway Bingo on Bessemer Super Highway and Fun -N-Games in Brighton – on the grounds that the businesses are operating illegally.

The sheriff said he would assist any mayors or police chiefs who find illegal bingo taking place in their cities but said he would not provide manpower nor make shutting down the illegal businesses a priority.

Agee reiterated that stance again on Monday. He said there are roughly 400 to 600 seized machines in storage at the facility highlighted Monday, which he asked that the location not be disclosed. That storage at that particular site cost the sheriff’s office $7,152 in 2018 alone. There are other sites where the machines are also being stored and he said they have about 1,500 seized machines in their custody.

“When we conduct these investigations, it’s very intensive. It has to be done right,’’ Agee said. “We have to send in detectives to play the machines so they can testify in court about these machines, pay an expert to say this is a gambling device and not bingo, then we go in to shut down the machines.”

“We have to take them into our custody and put them in storage in a secure location. We have to pay for this. This adds up,’’ he said. “Some of these machines sit here for years and years and years.”

“No one ever goes to jail, no one ever goes before a judge, no one ever pays a fine,’’ Agee said. “We have to pay for this out of our budget, money we feel could be spent to fund our summer programs for teenagers, we could buy computers, equipment, maintenance. So as far as enforcing and going after these bingo establishments, it is low on our list. It’s just not worth it. The other crimes come first.”

Agee said he’s not saying they won’t investigate the bingo halls but said it’s not their focus. And, he said, not one municipality has requested they do so.

Asked how the sheriff’s office would feel if the Attorney General’s Office comes to Jefferson County to shut down such businesses, Agee said, “That is surely his choice. I can’t speak for the state, I can only talk about our priorities. Our priorities are what the people are asking us to do. If we have to sit out all night waiting on these car burglars, that is important. If we have to camp out in one neighborhood to catch one burglary, that’s important. One burglar can do a lot of damage.”

“Our priorities, we believe, are in line with what the citizens want and that’s what we’re going to concentrate on,’’ he said. “Our enforcement is determined by the needs of the community.”

A spokesman for Marshall’s office on Monday said the attorney general would have no further comment on the issue as it “related to an ongoing criminal investigation.”