CENTER, Texas (KTRE) – The Shelby County Commissioners Court approved advertising for sealed bids on the 16 gaming machines seized and forfeited to Shelby County on September 5th.

Shelby County Sheriff Kevin Windham said some machines were found at a business located at Tenaha Hall truck stop, and the rest of the machines were found at a residence that had been converted into a gaming room.

“Today the Commissioner’s Court discussed and approved the selling of 16 illegal gaming machines that were confiscated by Constable Precinct Three Roy Cheatwood and Constable Precinct Five Josh Tipton,” Windham said.

Sheriff Windham said the possession of these machines is a class a misdemeanor and can result in a fine of 4,000 dollars and punishable of up to 12 months in county jail.

“It will certainly be beneficial to my department because it’s taking up space in our building. And the money or the proceeds that will be generated will then be put into a seizure account and then it will be used for law enforcement purposes,” Windham said.

District Attorney Gary W. Rholes brought the agenda item before the court. He speculates each gaming machine could be worth anywhere between 1 to 4,000 dollars.

“I think it’s just important because we could use all the money we could get for law enforcement here. It’s not coming from taxpayers and it just made total sense to me to do that,” Rholes said.

The Commissioner agenda item stated the buyer must sign an affidavit stating they will not use the machine illegally.

Written by Brianna Linn and Christian Terry