Proposed Casino Stirs Gaming Debate
by March 13, 2006 12:00 am 55 views
By Tara Muck
Bennie Westphal, chief executive officer of The Westphal Group in Fort Smith, sold 10 acres along the Arkansas River in Fort Smith to the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma to build a $135-million riverfront casino, according to notes from a meeting Westphal had with area pastors on March 6.
Because of an 1817 “Treaty with the Cherokee,” the UKB has rights “to acquire trust land for housing, economic development and self-governance purposes” if the land was the original territory occupied by the tribe. That’s according to a legal opinion G. William Rice, a lawyer in Cushing, Okla., wrote for Riverfront Exploration LLC.
The UKB’s original territory goes from Fort Smith, northeast to Harrison, southeast to Batesville and back southwest through Morrilton (see map). Then it extends south to Texarkana and back north to Fort Smith along the Oklahoma-Arkansas state line.
Federal law allows an Indian tribe in a state that allows gaming to have the same type of gaming on their territory. For the Tahlequah-based UKB, that would mean the land they purchased would have to be granted trust land, an off-reservation site, by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. According to documents, the application has already been sent to the BIA.
However, the application process could take several years. At this point, it is taking two to three years for an application for gaming land to be completed, said Gary Garrison, public affairs official with the BIA in Washington, D.C., adding that there are certain things that must be considered for the grant. One of those processes is showing that the territory in question for gaming used to belong to the specified tribe.
The main question is whether or not the state has any say regarding the establishment of land for gaming purposes.
“It’s all strictly a federal process,” said Matt DeCample, press secretary for the Arkansas Attorney General’s office. “There’s a big difference in buying land and getting it designated as a gaming land.”
Alice Stewart, press secretary for Gov. Mike Huckabee, said the governor would be against it because he feels it is unconstitutional. Asked whether or not the governor or legislation could stop the process, Stewart said she didn’t know, adding that the state’s lawyers would have to figure that out.
Stewart said Gov. Huckabee released a statement on March 8 regarding the proposed application for gaming land by the UKB.
“We can’t understand how the feds would create a designation for a tribe not currently recognized in Arkansas for the ulterior purpose of bringing an illegal casino,” Huckabee said.
The proposed 250-room, casino would be part of an overall master plan by The Westphal Group that includes a pedestrian mall, museums and commercial and residential space.