Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians Tribal Chairman John Warren recently said the tribe can open a casino in South Bend, Indiana without a compact, since a new law passed by the legislature, which outlines the compact process, prevents Governor Mike Pence from negotiating in good faith. Warren said the law violates the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. “They just passed legislation that tied the governor’s hands in negotiating with us in good faith and everything they had in their bill is against federal law. So we don’t have to negotiate with them to open,” Warren said.
The federal Bureau of Indian Affairs is reviewing the tribe’s proposal to build a casino, 500-room hotel, tribal village and medical facility. The Pokagons operate three Michigan in Hartford, Buffalo and Dowagiac.
Warren said the state law violates federal law because it specifies the compact must address who manages the tribe’s gaming operation, the types of games offered, games administration and regulations, infrastructure and site improvements and revenue sharing with state and local governments. The law also states the legislature must approve the compact. Warren added if the law isn’t changed, the BIA will draw up a compact to define the gaming relationship between the tribe and the state.
Pence’s spokeswoman Kara Brooks said the administration “is currently reviewing our options both at the federal and state level as they relate to a new casino being built in South Bend.” BIA spokeswoman Nedra Darling said there would be no comment on the law until it could be reviewed.
State Rep. David Niezgodski of South Bend, among the few opposed to the law, said the tribe “has a right to build a casino if they want and we should do everything we can to show we accept them with open arms,” he said. Niezgodski added the tribe would view the new law as a tactic “to simply slow the process down.”
Kathryn Rand, dean of the University of North Dakota School of Law and co-director of the Institute for the Study of Tribal Gaming Law and Policy, analyzed Indiana’s new law and concluded the state law is in addition to federal requirements, not a replacement. One issue could be that revenue sharing must be included in the compact in exchange for something the state provides the tribe. In some states that means exclusivity, location preferences or the number and types of games offered. “Just something above and beyond,” she said. Rand added the Interior Department will review the compact to make sure “the value of what the state is giving up is roughly comparable to what the state receives through the revenue sharing.”
