Last week a federal judge handed victory to the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe of South Dakota, ruling that the state may not tax products or services sold at the Royal River Casino and the Royal River Family Entertainment Center the tribe runs.
Taxing these products or services violates the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) said Judge Lawrence Pieersol, who wrote: “A state’s authority to tax in Indian Country is operationally curtailed by a tribe’s sovereign immunity.”
South Dakota had tried to hold the tribe’s liquor licenses hostage to its demand that the tribe collect state taxes. However, the judge ruled that this is only true of businesses the tribe runs that are directly related to gaming.
It does not hold for a convenience store and gas station the tribe owns.
John Peebles of the Fredericks, Peebles & Morgan law firm, which represented the tribe, said in a press release: “It is a victory that will stimulate economic development in Indian Country for years to come.”
