Last October the U.S. Department of the Interior issued a memo stating under Indian Gaming Regulatory Act the Tigua and Alabama-Coushatta tribes have the right to conduct Class II gaming on their Texas reservations. The memo related to a 1987 ruling allowing the tribes to offer gaming that is “lawful under Texas state law.” Left unclear in that ruling was if it meant Texas had to pass a law banning unwanted games or legalizing allowable games.
Gambling proponents said the state must pass a law specifically prohibiting types of gaming. However, state Attorney General Ken Paxton has argued the ruling meant the state must specify games allowed by law. In 2002, then-Attorney General Dan Morales used the law to close the Tigua’s Speaking Rock Casino.
Attorney Dennis Whittlesey, who has written on the topic, said, “It became purely a question of, in that case, of what gaming has not been specifically, criminally, illegalized in Texas. That was the Supreme Court ruling: if it has not been criminally illegalized, that means it’s civilly regulated.” Whittlesey added, “The language is very odd. You get into a question of ‘What is lawful?’ This is the battleground.”
Meanwhile some Texas legislators have introduced a constitutional amendment that would allow the two tribes to offer gaming. They note in 1983 Congress granted the Kickapoo tribe the right to conduct gaming without restriction. The bill still is in committee. If it’s passed, a voter referendum would be held in the November election.
