At a recent public hearing in Charles Mix County, South Dakota, no one opposed the Yankton Sioux tribe doubling the slots at its Fort Randall Casino and Hotel in Pickstown, South Dakota, from 250 to 500.at a recent public hearing. Tribal Gaming Commission Director Arthur Standing Cloud said that was the tribe’s main goal for its new state gaming compact. In return, the tribe will agree not use a sovereign immunity defense against any claims covered under the casino’s liability insurance.
“We have been working on the new compact since late 2012. It was just a lot of going back and forth and trying to get the changes through our tribal council ,” Standing Cloud said. The new compact—the first update in 15 years–now awaits the approval of Governor Dennis Daugaard.
The compact also will allow the tribe to offer craps and roulette in addition to blackjack and poker, and to take wagers on horse and greyhounds races, maintaining the previous agreement’s lack of a maximum wager limit.
In addition, the compact will allow the tribe to resume responsibility for employee background checks, which currently are handled by state officials. “We felt that we’ve been in business 20 years, we can handle that ourselves,” Standing Cloud said.
As in the earlier compact, the new one stipulates gaming proceeds may be used to provide public services for area citizens, but cannot be used to influence the outcome of any local, state or federal election conducted within South Dakota. Under the new terms, the Yankton Sioux’s compact will be reviewed every four years.
All nine South Dakota tribes have gaming compacts with the state.
