Last November in Arkansas, voters approved Amendment 100, allowing the racinos at Southland in West Memphis and Oaklawn in Hot Springs to become full-fledged casinos, as well as permitting one new casino each in Jefferson and Pope counties. Voters in Jefferson County passed the amendment by a wide margin, but Pope County voters overwhelmingly rejected it and also passed a local ordinance that would require letters of endorsement for a casino from the county judge or the quorum court and host-city mayor, even though the language in Amendment 100 does not include those conditions.
In December, the Arkansas Racing Commission approved regulations for casino gambling, including a rule that the counties approved for a casino must receive support letters from county leaders dated after November 14. However, the commission recently passed a new rule stating the letters must come from individuals holding office at the time a potential casino operator submits an application.
Days before their terms ended, then-Pope County Judge Jim Ed Gibson and then-Russellville Mayor Randy Horton submitted letters to the racing commission endorsing Mississippi-based Gulfside Casino Partners’ proposal for a $254 million casino-hotel in Russellville. Public outrage and a lawsuit quickly followed. Opponents of a Pope County casino filed suit to invalidate the letters.
Russellville’s new Mayor Richard Harris said he was “very disappointed, in fact, and discouraged,” over Horton’s December 26 letter to the state racing commission supporting Gulfside’s proposed River Valley Casino Resort. “We’re also going to be filing letters with the racing commission from my office, and hopefully from the new county judge’s office, stating our opposing to the casino,” Harris said.
He stated, “There are legal issues that are being worked through at this time. We have a state representative that’s put forth a bill that will allow us to pull that letter back if it is perceived to be a letter of support. We don’t feel like the casino is the right thing for us at this time,” Harris said.
The new rule most likely would stop a Pope County casino for the foreseeable future, observers said, since Harris and the current county judge both oppose a casino, as do most voters. However, observers added the local ordinance is likely an unconstitutional limit on the new state amendment and could invite lawsuits.
The new rules will be published for a 30-day public comment period before receiving final approval from the commission and lawmakers. Then, casino developers for Jefferson or Pope counties can submit applications; the review process must begin by June 1.
In Pine Bluff and Jefferson County, officials issued letters of support for the Quapaw Nation’s proposed Saracen Casino Resort in Pine Bluff. No other casino operators have publicly expressed interest in developing a casino there. In Pope County, only Gulfside, operators of the Island View Casino Resort in Gulfport, Mississippi, has announced interest in a casino there. State Senator Breanne Davis previously said the Cherokee Nation, Choctaw Casinos and Warner Gaming also had expressed interest.
Alex Gray, an attorney who helped draft Amendment 100 for Driving Arkansas Forward, said he was surprised by the opposition from Pope County voters and officials He said “local leaders and business people” were receptive during the campaign. “We did not view this as a situation where it was any kind of imposition on the location,” Gray said.
