New window opens for casino applicants

The Arkansas Racing Commission on Monday opened a 90-day window for accepting fresh applications for a casino license in Pope County.

The move came four days after a Mississippi company filed a lawsuit against the commission for refusing to reconsider its denial of the firm’s application for the operating license.

Meanwhile, a circuit judge approved the Pope County prosecutor’s request to have a special prosecutor handle a complaint filed against county officials alleging they violated the state Freedom of Information Act in the Quorum Court’s surprise endorsement last week of Cherokee Nation Businesses for the casino license.

All applications for casino gaming licenses must be submitted to the commission’s office at 1515 W. Seventh St., Suite 505, in Little Rock by 5 p.m. Nov. 18. Application forms are available from the commission office or on its website at www.dfa.arkansas.gov/racing-commission.

“Applications will be provided to Commissioners as they are received. Due to the competitive advantage that would be created by broad release prior to the close of the application period, applications will not be shared publicly until November 18,” state Department of Finance and Administration spokesman Scott Hardin said.

“If one application is received, a thorough review will be conducted by Commissioners to ensure the requirements of Amendment 100 are met prior to licensing. In the case of multiple applications, the Commission must weigh several factors within each proposal to determine the best fit for Pope County and the state of Arkansas,” Hardin added.

In June, the Racing Commission rejected five applicants — Gulfside Casino

Partnership of Mississippi, Cherokee Nation Businesses of Oklahoma, Kehl Management of Iowa, Warner Gaming of Nevada and Choctaw Nation Division of Commerce of Oklahoma — for the Pope County license because none had the local government endorsement required by Amendment 100 and by gaming rules subsequently adopted by the commission.

At that time, the commission voted to reopen the application window for 90 days if an applicant came forward with the required letters of support. That happened last Tuesday when the Quorum Court endorsed a proposal from Cherokee Nation Businesses.

On Thursday, the commission denied Gulfside’s appeal of the June rejection of its application. Gulfside’s application included letters of endorsement given by local officials right before they left office in December.

Gulfside immediately filed suit in Pulaski County Circuit Court against the commission, seeking to bar the commission from awarding a casino license until the legal challenge has been resolved.

On Monday afternoon, the chief executive officer of Cherokee Nation Businesses said the organization is “pleased to see the Arkansas Racing Commission open the formal window this morning.”

“And we look forward to filing our application in the near future,” said Chuck Garrett, who was elected CEO last week.

The Racing Commission ruled earlier this year that local government endorsements of casino applicants can come only from officials in office at the time the application is submitted. The Legislature also passed Act 371, which became effective in March and requires the same thing.

But Gulfside says in its lawsuit that the commission’s rule is unconstitutional because Amendment 100 does not state when endorsements have to be dated or submitted.

Messages left for Gulfside’s attorney Casey Castleberry to ask if the company intended to file a new application during the new window were not returned as of late Monday.

Warner Gaming CEO Bill Warner said the company would be interested in submitting an updated proposal, but only if “a transparent process with a level playing field can be established regarding the county support letter.”

Warner had proposed a Hard Rock Hotel and Casino for Pope County.

“We are confident that we can deliver a first-class project that would become a major entertainment and hospitality destination for western Arkansas, with amenities that residents of Pope County have expressed a desire for,” Warner said.

“However, at this time, we have no indication that the county wishes to revisit its support letter process,” he said. “We’ll continue to monitor developments with respect to the Pope County casino license. Should an opportunity arise for a more open and level process, we’d be very interested in participating.”

Likewise, Robert McLarty, spokesman for Kehl Management, said the group is going to sit still and watch the situation unfold.

“There seems to be continual moving parts,” McLarty said. “It’s unclear what’s going to happen. For us right now, we’re reassessing the situation and continuing to closely monitor any developments.”

Messages left for John Burris, spokesman for the Choctaw Nation Division of Commerce, were not immediately returned.

Ben Cross, county judge of Pope County, has maintained since campaigning for office last year that he would not endorse a casino license applicant unless it was the will of Pope County voters.

County residents soundly voted against Amendment 100, but they also approved an initiated county ordinance that said an election must be called to allow voters to decide if they want officials to back a casino applicant.

Just before the justices of the peace voted last Tuesday to sign a one-page resolution to support the Cherokee Nation Businesses, Cross presented an 11-page “Economic Development Agreement,” which details the Cherokee firm’s proposal and stipulates that the company will pay — in the form of a cashier’s check — a $38.8 million “economic development fee” within 30 days of “the successful resolution of all litigation or administrative challenges relating to the issuance of” a casino license for Pope County.

Cross reiterated Monday that neither he nor the Pope County Quorum Court would be issuing endorsements to any other casino applicant.

“I have not issued any support letters for any vendor in this matter, nor will I to any other potential vendors which may arise,” Cross said in an email. “Based on individual conversations with members of the quorum court, they will not entertain any other vendors either.”

An anti-casino group, Citizens for a Better Pope County, represented by James Knight, sued Cross and members of the Quorum Court last Tuesday. The suit asked that no casino be endorsed without first holding an election as required by the initiated ordinance.

Also last week, Pope County Justice of the Peace Joseph Pearson, along with seven other residents, filed a complaint with Pope County prosecutor Jeff Phillips alleging that Cross and some members of the Quorum Court held private meetings to discuss the competition for a casino license.

The complaint filed by Hans Stiritz on behalf of the anti-casino group Concerned Citizens of Pope County came after two of the five contenders for the casino license — Warner Gaming and the Choctaw Nation Division of Commerce — said they were told by Cross days before last week’s Quorum Court meeting that the endorsement would be given to Cherokee Nation Businesses.

Cross previously told a reporter for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that the two groups were “mistaken.”

Phillips said Monday that he has requested that a special prosecutor be assigned to review the case because it would be a conflict of interest for him to do so. Phillips was previously Pope County’s civil attorney before being elected to his current office.

“I think on its face, there’s an appearance of impropriety for me to be sitting in judgment of a group that signed my paycheck,” Phillips said. “I can be fair and impartial, but it has the appearance of impropriety.”

Fifth Judicial Circuit Court Judge Bill Pearson approved the request and sent it to the Office of the Prosecutor Coordinator in Little Rock to assign a new prosecutor.

“I’ve asked that the special prosecutor appointed not have a casino in his district to further eliminate any appearance of impropriety,” Phillips said.

Cross said he respects the ruling of the Racing Commission and supports its position on the matter of a Pope County casino license.

“Since litigation is pending in multiple venues, I will allow due process to proceed,” he said. “Only time will produce the appropriate outcomes to all these issues, and at this point, we must respect the process.

“No one produced a handbook by which to navigate Amendment 100; therefore, protecting the interests of Pope County through contractual agreement was my paramount concern.”

“No one produced a handbook by which to navigate Amendment 100.” — Ben Cross, county judge of Pope County