Documents that a federal judge forced the Tohono O’odham Nation of Arizona to disgorge from its confidential tribal records and logs of council meetings appear to support a claim by the state of Arizona that the nation was exploring possible sites for a casino in Maricopa County, in the Phoenix Valley even as it was telling voters in 2002 that there would be no such casinos.
In 2002 the voters of the state authorized an amendment to the state constitution that opened the way for all of the states gaming tribes to open casinos.
The documents the tribe turned over to the court under duress include hand-written minutes of closed meetings in 2002 that show that the tribe was already discussing putting a casino at that location.
Lawyers for the state of Arizona, who subpoenaed the documents, hope to use them to support its arguments before a federal judge that the tribe committed fraud in 2002, which would, the state argues, make it unfit for a Class III casino. The tribe currently operates a Class II casino in Glendale, which does not require any approval by the state.
The state, specifically Daniel Bergin, director of the Arizona Department of Gaming, is the defendant in a federal lawsuit where the tribe is trying to force the department to certify its Class III gaming operation, something Bergin has refused to due, citing his contention that the tribe committed fraud.
The attorneys shared the documents with the Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community, which is not a party to the suit, but which may file a similar suit of its own, contending fraud in the compact negotiations to which it was also a party 14 years ago.
One of the minutes, dated several days prior to the 2002 election, notes the analysis of several locations for a potential casino in locations as far away from Phoenix as 40 miles and as close as 16. The city of Glendale, where the casino was eventually opened, is also mentioned.
Tribal officials in those minutes discuss buying the land with the $30 million in funds the federal government paid it to compensate it for the loss of tribal lands to inundation caused by a federal dam.
The compact the voters approved in 2002 prohibited new casinos, except for property obtained through a land settlement. However, the tribe, knowing that such an exception existed, signed off on advertising that said that if the compacts were approved that no new casinos could be built in Phoenix. The tribe helped pay for the brochure, but blames the inaccuracy on a public relations firm that produced it.
