COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann said Wednesday he plans to check video games in bars and other businesses across the state to determine if they are in violation of gambling laws.

Dann said games of chance are illegal while games of skill are legal.

An independent firm hired by the state will inspect the machines to determine if they operate by skill or chance. If they are legal, the games will be tagged and sealed. If they are illegal, they will be removed.

Dann said there has been an explosion in the number of requests to his office from law enforcement for information on the games and their legality.

“This explosion has occurred because there is no clear standard for determining whether a machine is a game of skill that belongs in the arcade at Cedar Point or at Chuck E. Cheese or an illegal game of chance that belongs in Las Vegas or a state that has legalized gambling,” Dann said.

The inspection of the video games will be conducted at the business owners’ expense.

Jim.otte@whiotv.com