As the deadline to apply for an Arkansas casino license expired, five applicants were registered for the two casino licenses. The Quapaw Nation’s Downstream Development Authority was the only applicant for the casino in Jefferson County, which has plans to build the Saracen Casino Resort. The Quapaws own several casinos near the Arkansas border in Oklahoma, and the application is seen as a way to protect their market.
In Pope Country, three companies and another Oklahoma tribe submitted applications: the Cherokee Nation, Tri-Peaks Entertainment Group LLC (Hard Rock Hotel and Casino owned and operated by Warner Gaming), Robert and Ruth Kehl Family, who own casinos in Iowa, and the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. The state had also received an application from Gulfside Casino Partnership earlier.
One of the stipulations of the applications is that they include letters of support from local leaders. None of the Pope County applications included those letters, except the Gulfside package, but those letters were from officials no longer in office. But Scott Hardin, a spokesman for the Department of Finance and Administration, said those don’t count because they’re not current officials.
Pope County isn’t enthusiastic about a casino. State Senator Breanne Davis and Mayor Richard Harris, both from Russellville in Pope County, have not endorsed any applicant and have no plans to do so.
The Racing Commission plans to review all the applications on June 13.
In the referendum to approve casinos in Arkansas, voters permitted slots-only facilities at Oaklawn Racing in Hot Springs and Southland Gaming and Racing in West Memphis to expand into full casinos.
