AUGUSTA — When the Oxford casino opens next spring, it will mean a big increase in the state’s gambling control duties.

At Tuesday’s meeting of the Gambling Control Board, Executive Director Patrick Fleming said gambling control efforts would need nearly $800,000 to pay for staff increases due to the new casino and to Hollywood Slots’ addition of table games.

Fleming said the money would come from the share of revenues from the Oxford and Bangor facilities that go to fund the Gambling Control Board. He said the amount is “well within what we would anticipate” to come from the two casinos.

That funding will pay for five full-time inspectors at the Black Bear casino on Route 26 in Oxford, one more at the Bangor racino and a supervisor who would report to Fleming. It would also add an office assistant and a Maine State Police detective.

The state currently has three full-time inspectors to make sure Hollywood Slots is following state gambling laws. When the racino starts table games next year, he said, it will need a fourth inspector.

The plan would assign a Maine State Police detective to run background investigations on licensed employees, a requirement of Maine gaming law.

Fleming said the detective in charge of running background investigations on licensed Bangor racino employees has a full plate already. Last year, he said, the detective investigated about 250 executives and floor employees.

“If we’re going to potentially double the number of investigations, or if something happens during the Legislature and they bring on more facilities, that’s going to bring on more work,” Fleming said.

In addition, having a detective for each facility would allow investigations of in-house incidents without taxing local law enforcement.

The money would also pay for uniforms, overtime, software licenses and setting up an electronic reporting system to save mileage costs for the inspectors’ supervisor.

Fleming recommended submitting the budget request as emergency legislation, rather than through the regular budget process.

Board members said they anticipated difficulty getting the Legislature to approve the budget increase, given the current tight state budget.

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