In Pulaski County, Arkansas, Judge Tim Fox ruled the Arkansas Racing Commission was wrong to reject Gulfside Properties’ casino license application and four others, and must reconsider Gulfside’s application “on its merits.”
Gulfside included endorsements from two outgoing elected officials that appeared to meet the criteria outlined in Amendment 100, which stated that letters of support were required “from the county judge or a resolution from the county quorum court in the county where the casino would be located and, if the proposed casino is to be located within a city, a letter of support from the mayor of that city.”
However, the commission rejected Gulfside’s application because it did not include current officeholders. Fox ruled the state’s additional requirement that local officeholders must currently hold office was unconstitutional. He wrote, “The court has determined the highlighted and underlined portion of Casino Gaming Rule 2.13(5)(b) imposes an additional qualification, sometimes referred to as a ‘negative’ qualification, beyond the plain and unambiguous language of Amendment 100.”
Arkansas voters passed Amendment 100 in 2018, allowing expanded racinos in Hot Springs and West Memphis and one casino each in Pope and Jefferson counties. The amendment does not explicitly indicate when local endorsements must be dated or submitted.
Mississippi-based Gulfside announced plans at the end of 2018 to build the $254 million River Valley Casino Resort in Pope County. Officials said the casino resort would create 1,500 jobs with an estimated payroll of more than $60 million and provide $29 million in annual gaming tax revenue.
Fox, however, rejected Gulfside’s request to order the commission to sue its license immediately. The ruling states, “It is clear from reading Amendment 100 as a whole that Gulfside’s premise is incorrect and that the Racing Commission is invested by Amendment 100 with both the privilege and the responsibility of utilizing its discretion as to whether a casino license should be issued to any applicant, regardless of whether such applicant is the only applicant during an application submission period.”
Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration Scott Hardin said the state attorney general’s office will consult with the racing commission to determine whether to appeal Fox’s decision to the state Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, Gulfside attorney Casey Castleberry said, “As Judge Fox’s ruling confirmed, we were the only applicant for Pope County that timely complied with every requirement of Amendment 100.” Four other Pope County license applicants were rejected by the commission: Kehl Management of Iowa, Warner Gaming of Nevada, the Choctaw Nation Division of Commerce of Oklahoma and Cherokee Nation Businesses of Oklahoma.
