Manatee County commissioners have finalized the details of an ordinance to crack down on illegal gambling dens a little more than a year after Suncoast Searchlight and the Bradenton Herald published an investigation that spurred the effort.
The newsrooms’ joint investigation last summer identified more than 20 “adult arcades” operating across the region in open defiance of state law. The new ordinance aims to choke off any new gambling businesses looking to operate in Manatee County, mirroring language from an ordinance passed in 2021 in Marion County.
The county submitted the proposal for review to the Florida Gaming Commission, which came back with suggestions on tweaking some of the language, but commissioners didn’t waver on their plan — and instead advanced the ordinance as is…