A clean race?

State panel should eye Pope County situation closely

The Arkansas Racing Commission might be tempted to put blinders on and race intently toward the finish line in awarding the final casino license under Amendment 100 to the state Constitution.

Maybe because so much has happened since voters authorized four casinos in Arkansas, it’s hard to believe it’s been less than a year since the election. Garland and Crittenden counties, already home to horse and dog tracks, respectively, easily made the transition into full-on casino gambling.

Jefferson County has also seen its journey into casino gambling go smoothly, with only the Quapaw Nation of Oklahoma as a serious contender. Local officials there say they’ve avoided controversy by building a relationship with the Quapaw, by being transparent in dealing with them and by focusing on a strong desire to lock in the long-term economic benefits they expect a casino to bring.

And then there’s Pope County. According to the constitutional amendment’s authors, Pope County was the right location for the state’s fourth casino, but someone forgot to tell the residents there. A majority within Pope County opposed the amendment itself, although they lost that battle to the statewide vote. A majority also backed a local ordinance to prevent county leaders from backing a casino without taking a new vote to gauge the public’s viewpoint.

In that volatile setting, several gambling ventures went to work, pursuing the state’s final casino license with a level of energy usually reserved for the craps table. Millions and millions of dollars are on the line.

For a while, it seemed Pope County might just take a pass, as public officials tried to figure out how to move forward with a community so divided. The process has, to say the least, been a thrilling contest. If it were a horse race, Cherokee Nation Businesses appears to the company firmly in the lead as the contestants stride toward the finish.

But legal and ethical questions abound in Pope County.

In law enforcement and legal circles — and in books and TV shows about crime — they call it the fruit of the poisonous tree. It’s a doctrine arising from court interpretation of the Constitution’s Fourth Amendment. In short, it means evidence in a trial cannot be considered if it was discovered through activities deemed illegal.

Last week, the Arkansas Racing Commission

opened a new, 90-day window to accept fresh applications from companies that want to build and operate a casino in Pope County.

Opening of that time period is a direct result of the Pope County Quorum Court’s surprise decision Aug. 13 to issue a resolution of support to Cherokee Nation Businesses. That makes the tribe’s gaming arm the only entity to get the local backing needed according to the rules of the racing commission and Amendment 100.

But serious questions — and lawsuits — linger about the unusual course the Pope County decision took through the Quorum Court — allegations of secret meetings and a vote that involved very little in the way of public discussion. We could go into details, but a lot of ink has been and continues to be spilled explaining all the ins and outs.

We’ll just say there’s a cloud looming over Pope County these days, and it’s not the one coming from Arkansas Nuclear One.

So, even though the state has every right to consider an application that has the required backing of the Quorum Court, is that really all the commission should concern itself with? Should the commission look at how that backing came about? Should it wait for completion of litigation over the legality of meetings or whether that local ordinance can impact a constitutional amendment?

Should the commission grant a casino license on the basis of the fruit of a potentially poisonous tree?

The Racing Commission continues to take applications, but the reality seems to be that only the Cherokee Nation will get the required backing from county leaders.

Rather than just looking to finish things up, the Racing Commission needs to let the smoke clear before it awards a license to anyone. Without a doubt the process in Pope County has raised serious questions about the public’s right to be involved in the process.

The actions of some members of Pope County’s leadership raise concerns about what else the public doesn’t know about how decisions where made.

Yes, if this were a horse race, it would be thrilling to watch. It would also be one of those races in which the word “inquiry” pops up on the video board out in the middle of the race track as soon as the horses crossed the finish. That’s what happens when there needs to be a close review of what just happened.

Track officials in such instances don’t wear blinders.

And neither should the Arkansas Racing Commission