Pope County casino license remains unclear after Arkansas Supreme Court ruling
A casino license in Pope County, Arkansas, was approved by voters through a statewide referendum in 2018 but remains pending.
The Arkansas Supreme Court last month upheld a lower judge's ruling that the Arkansas Racing Commission (ARC) erred in deeming Cherokee Nation Businesses (CNB) and Legends Resort & Casino, LLC to be the recipients of county casino licenses By.
Cherokee Nation Enterprises is the commercial gaming and hospitality arm of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. Legends Resort & Casino, LLC is wholly owned by CNB.
The state Supreme Court ruled that ARC erred in determining Cherokee's bid eligibility because it violated Amendment 100 -- the 2018 referendum that separated Crittenden, Garland, Jefferson and Pope counties from each A casino is legalized. The state Supreme Court said Amendment 100 requires bids to come from individual companies, not consortiums like the Cherokees and Legends Resort & Casino.
Legends Resort & Casino also raises legal concerns because the company was formed specifically to operate CNB Pope County casinos and has no experience developing, owning or operating casinos - although the Cherokees have decades of experience in the tribal casino business Experience Business features their home state of Oklahoma. Under Amendment 100, only applicants who “can demonstrate experience operating casino games” are eligible to take the exam.
Both parties submit briefings
ARC selected the Cherokee/Legends offer over other qualifying offers. The proposal comes from a company called Gulfside Casino Partnership, a Mississippi-based riverboat operator.
In response to the Arkansas Supreme Court ruling, ARC invites both parties to comment on how they believe the state should further consider the Pope County casino license.
Lawyers representing the Cherokees in their bid have asked the state Supreme Court to reconsider upholding Pulaski County Circuit Judge Tim Fox's opinion that the Racing Commission should not consider their casino bid. Former Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel, who represents the Cherokees, wrote to the racing commission asking the Supreme Court to provide further clarification.
“The Supreme Court’s opinion on what next steps need to be taken is unclear,” McDaniel said.
The court is only concerned with the issue of whether there are two names on the license," he said. "There have been two rumors of revoking the license granted. However, disagreement remains as to whether Legend is a qualified applicant," McDaniel wrote.
McDaniel said the court's ruling "opens the door for an administrative settlement." McDaniel believes that could include the Cherokees as a group resubmitting their offer.
Lawyers representing Gulfside argued that ARC should start over and conduct a second round of tenders.
Local support
The 2018 referendum requires that offers be accompanied by a letter of support from a district judge or a regional university judge. This component resulted in additional litigation over the Pope County casino issue.
The Cherokee/Legends plan has the support of Pope County Judge Ben Cross. The Bay Plan submitted its bid with a letter of support from Ed Gibson, who expressed his support for the plan just days before leaving his position as Pope County judge in December 2018.
In a separate case before the Arkansas Supreme Court, the Cherokees successfully argued in court that the "the" before "district judge" and "district college" in Amendment 100 refers to a current judge or judge , rather than a former or former judge. Retired District Judge.
Gulfside's attorneys argued that resetting the ARC and conducting a second round of bids would provide clarity and allow the Cross and Pope County Court of Common Pleas to reconsider the best presentation.
"This will allow all potential casino applicants to seek local support from Pope County officials and submit an application that will be reviewed by the Horse Racing Commission under The merits of the case will be considered.” Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly referred to Legends Resort & Casino, LLC as Legends Hospitality. Legends Hospitality is not legally involved in the gaming license dispute.
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Source: www.casino.org
