Legendary Resort and Casino is the Lone Suitable Offer in Arkansas' Pope County.
The Arkansas Racing Commission (ARC) has declared that only one casino project, the one submitted by Cherokee Nation Entertainment for the Legends Resort & Casino, meets the requirements for consideration to obtain the sole commercial gaming license allocated for Pope County.
This news came after ARC received two bids for the final casino license in the state. Apart from the $300 million Cherokee proposal, Gulfside Casino Partnership presented a plan worth $405 million, known as River Valley Casino Resort. Although both projects planned to operate in Russellville, only the Cherokee submission included letters of support from the Pope County Quorum Court and Pope County Judge Ben Cross.
Pope County voters approved a 2018 statewide ballot referendum, allowing casinos in Crittenden, Garland, Jefferson, and Pope counties. This referendum also stipulated that two casinos would be built from the ground up in Jefferson and Pope Counties, with the latter county requiring their casino to be located within two miles of Russellville. In order to qualify for a casino license in Pope County, applicants were obligated to provide a letter of support from the county's judge or resolution from the county quorum court.
The ARC voted to exclude Gulfside from the selection process on Wednesday due to the missing support letters or resolutions from either the county judged or the quorum court. Gulfside had the opportunity to discuss their project with the quorum court last week and faced a tight vote of 7-5 against issuing River Valley a letter of support.
Gulfside representatives acknowledged potentially considering their alternatives, but the dwindling prospects of winning the Pope County casino license leave the ceremony approaching after nearly six years since the gaming concession was initially proposed.
As the only compatible bid, the ARC will now jumpstart the process of analyzing the Legends Resort & Casino plan. This entails consulting an external expert to assess the application. Following this, the Cherokee Nation Entertainment will have the opportunity to present their project overview at a June 27 meeting. Each commissioner will grade the proposed casino resort on a scale of 1-100 points after the presentation.
This procurement process took a legal turn four years ago when ARC evaluated Gulfside's and Cherokee's casino proposals. While then-Commissioner Butch Rice awarded River Valley a perfect 100/100 score, Cherokees were given a meagre 29/100. This prompted fellow commissioners to determine Rice displayed a bias, resulting in the choice to award the Legends plan the license. Gulfside filed a lawsuit claiming ARC's decision showed a "bias."
The lawsuit considered whether a retired judge was authorized to provide support, due to the River Valley plan incorporating a letter of support from former Pope County Judge Tim Fox. State courts concluded that current judges' endorsements were the only acceptable alternatives.
A separate case before Arkansas' Supreme Court also deliberated on the legality of the Cherokees' initial application. The Cherokees were initially involved as a partnership with a recently-formed entity called Legends Resort& Casino, LLC but have since mended this blunder, applying as Cherokee Nation Entertainment in their most recent bid.
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