COLUMBIA, S.C. - A bill to ban casino boats in South Carolina has been filed as the state Supreme Court debates whether to hear an appeal of a judge's ruling that local governments can't keep the boats from docking on their shores.

A judge ruled last year that Georgetown County couldn't ban the boats, saying that power remains only with the state.

The county is appealing, but in the meantime the House can try to do whatever it can, said Rep. Vida Miller, D-Pawleys Island, who filed the casino boat ban bill.

The bill has several co-sponsors who also represent coastal districts.

"We're just trying to show good faith to the county that we're doing all we can do at the state level," Miller said. "Georgetown County has done everything it can do."

Neither Murrells Inlet nor downtown Georgetown is a suitable location for gambling cruises, and the residents oppose them, Miller said.

This isn't the first time a ban has been suggested.

After the first casino boat came to Murrells Inlet in November 1998, the House moved quickly the next January to pass a bill banning them. It stalled in the Senate because of opposition from Sen. Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston.

The House has passed the bill twice again since then, and McConnell has continued to fight it.

The Senate President Pro Tem said a ban on casino boats could interfere with cruise ships that dock in Charleston because most of them contain gambling rooms. McConnell also thinks the issue should be tackled by local governments instead of the state, but the recent court action has weakened his argument.

Miller said she hopes to meet with McConnell soon and try to find something that he will agree to.

The only casino boats currently operating in the state are in Little River in northern Horry County.

South Carolina must allow the boats under federal law unless it specifically bans them.