In a 40-page opinion, the Kansas Supreme Court recently affirmed lower court rulings in two lawsuits filed by the Cherokee County Commission and Castle Rock Casino Resort. The suits challenged the selection of the million Kansas Crossing by the Kansas Lottery Gaming Facility Review Board and Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission to build and operate a state-owned casino in Crawford County. The dismissal of all arguments ends Castle Rock’s and the county’s legal challenges to stop the recently opened Kansas Crossing.
The lawsuits contended Kansas Crossing was chosen over two other competing projects based on insufficient evidence, legal error and arbitrary or capricious decisions.
In a unanimous ruling, Justice Caleb Stegall wrote that the Lottery Gaming Facility Review Board did not err when it chose the Kansas Crossing proposal over Castle Rock. “In light of the record as a whole, the Board could reasonably conclude that Castle Rock — though bigger — posed an unacceptable risk. Certainly, a reasonable person could conclude that a smaller but more sustainable casino could better serve the interests of Kansans.”
In June 2015, the state review board considered three proposals to build a casino in southeast Kansas. Brothers Brandon and Rodney Steven of Wichita proposed the larger $145 million Castle Rock facility in Cherokee County. Objecting to the selection of Kansas Crossing, the Stevens and Cherokee County commissioners sued to block Kansas Crossing. They appealed to the state Supreme Court after a Shawnee County judge previously ruled that the state’s gaming agencies followed the law in making their choice.
The third proposal was from Camptown Casino, which would have been located at the site of the former Camptown greyhound racetrack near Frontenac.
Bruce Christensen, the lead investor in Kansas Crossing, said, “We’re excited to have this issue resolved. Our entire team is looking forward to doing great things for Southeast Kansas.”
Cherokee County Commissioner Patrick Collins said gaming board members “are 200 miles away from us and make decisions on how to run our government, and they’re just wrong. We’ll just take our wounds and go on, but they were wrong. They were wrong for Crawford County, but there’s nothing we can do about it.”
