MONTGOMERY – Gov.-elect Robert Bentley announced Wednesday plans to assign the work of the Governor’s Task Force on Illegal Gambling to the attorney general’s office on Jan. 17, 2011, when he and Attorney General-elect Luther Strange take office.

“By assigning all pending cases and investigative authority to the attorney general’s office, I have transferred the primary responsibility for ensuring that Alabama’s gambling laws are enforced statewide to Attorney General-Elect Luther Strange,” Bentley said.

Strange thanked Bentley for his confidence and said his office will not back down from enforcing Alabama’s gambling laws.

Bentley and Strange said gambling establishments now closed under threat of raid by the Task Force should not mistake the announcement as a signal to open their casinos.