A judge has dissolved temporary restraining orders that shut down eight bingo halls in Jefferson County last month, finding the orders should have been filed in a different jurisdiction.

The Alabama Attorney General’s Office, which led the probe and raids, opposes the judge’s order, saying that if the businesses reopen, they pose a public nuisance that is a direct threat to the health, safety and welfare of Jefferson County residents.

Teams of state and federal agents in April fanned out across Jefferson County in mid-April, shuttering the doors of 14 bingo halls across the county.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said the shutdowns were carried out by his office and the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, as well as FBI and DEA agents. Hoover police also assisted.

Marshall said his office obtained temporary restraining orders against 14 illegal gambling facilities in Jefferson County involving more than 2,400 illegal slot machines and multiple non-profit and for-profit entities.

The TRO’s required the facilities to cease all operations, the property cannot be used or accessed, and there can be no further financial transactions connected with the facility or those operating the facility until further orders from the Circuit Court of Jefferson County.

The TRO’s were filed in Birmingham, and Jefferson County Presiding Judge Elisabeth French later transferred eight of the 14 cases to the Cutoff.

On Thursday, Jefferson County Bessemer Cutoff Circuit Judge David Carpenter dissolved the TRO’s for those eight of those businesses, ruling that the cases should have been filed in the Bessemer Cutoff, not the Birmingham Division of the circuit court.

“The Birmingham Division of Jefferson County, where these cases were originally filed, never had proper jurisdiction in this case,’’ Carpenter wrote. “Without proper jurisdiction, the original TRO was never valid, could never have been extend, and cannot now be extended.”

He ordered the businesses be granted access to their bingo halls. The six businesses in the Birmingham division remain closed.

Marshall’s office filed a motion to stay Carpenter’s ruling, arguing that if the owners resume operations, they would also have access to “illegally obtained funds.”

“Given the possibility that the defendants could remove evidence, obtain and hide illegally obtained monies, and resume the operation of the business that constitutes a public nuisance.”

The AG’s Office is appealing the ruling.