The Choctaw Nation submitted an application with the Arkansas Racing Commission on Monday for a license to build and operate a casino in Pope County -- three days after the leading candidate, Cherokee Nation Businesses, submitted an amended application for that license.
Choctaw Nation Division of Commerce is listed on the business card that was submitted along with the application, but the application states that it is from TVSHKA Gaming, a subsidiary of the Choctaw Nation, said Scott Hardin, a spokesman for the state Department of Finance and Administration. The Choctaw Nation is based in Durant, Okla.
The application from the Choctaw Nation does not include letters of support from local elected officials in Pope County, Hardin said. County officials backed the Cherokees for the license.
The deadline for the Racing Commission's second window of applications for the casino license in Pope County was 4:30 p.m. Monday at the commission office in Little Rock.
In a brief interview about the Choctaw Nation's submission for the Pope County casino, County Judge Ben Cross said Monday that "It's surprising they would submit an incomplete application lacking the constitutional requirements of Amendment 100."
Amendment 100 -- which allows a new casino each in Pope and Jefferson counties and the expansion of gambling operations at the racetracks in Hot Springs and West Memphis -- requires that the new casinos have the endorsements of county officials. Amendment 100 also states that an endorsement issued by a mayor must be accompanied by a letter of support from the county judge or a resolution by the county Quorum Court.
In November 2018, 54.1% of voters approved the constitutional amendment while 45.9% voted against it.
Asked why the Choctaw Nation submitted an application without the endorsement of local elected officials in Pope County, Janie Dillard, a senior executive officer for the Choctaw Nation, said Monday in a written statement issued through a spokeswoman, "The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma has consistently advocated for a fair, open and transparent process.
"We hope that the state will take action to allow all proposals to receive fair consideration," Dillard said.
Chuck Garrett, chief executive officer for the Catoosa, Okla.-based Cherokee Nation Businesses, said Monday in a written statement, "Cherokee Nation Businesses is the only operator to fully meet the qualification requirements pursuant to Amendment 100, and we remain highly optimistic upon today's closing of the application window set forth by the Arkansas State Racing Commission.
"We continue to follow their lead with respect to process and look forward to receiving the casino license. In the meantime, we continue to work closely with local elected officials to determine which is the best location for the project," he said.
On Friday, Garrett said that in addition to the Hob Nob Road location outside Russellville, the tribe's amended application includes a site inside the city limits of Dover.
The tribe announced in June that it is partnering with Legends -- a stadium management company founded by Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and the late George Steinbrenner, who owned the New York Yankees -- to "manage the process for the design and development" of the Pope County casino should the tribe be awarded the license.
If the Racing Commission grants a casino license in Pope County, then it will be the fourth and final casino in Arkansas allowed under Amendment 100 to the Arkansas Constitution.
In March, the commission approved allowing Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort in Hot Springs and Southland Casino Racing in West Memphis to begin full casino operations on April 1.
In June, the commission granted a casino license to the Downstream Development Authority of the Quapaw Nation in Quapaw, Okla., to build a casino in Pine Bluff.
In October, the commission granted the Quapaw Nation's request to transfer the license to Saracen Development LLC of Pine Bluff. The Saracen Casino Resort is a $350 million project that's now under construction. Gambling is already taking place in the city at the smaller Saracen Q Store and Casino Annex.
The Racing Commission decided Oct. 17 to wait until lower-court rulings are issued in two lawsuits before considering a decision on any application submitted for the Pope County casino license.
The lawsuits include one from the anti-casino group Citizens for a Better Pope County that was tossed out by a circuit judge on Oct. 29. Another was filed by Gulfside Casino Partnership of Mississippi against the state Racing Commission.
Next Monday, Pulaski County Circuit Judge Tim Fox is to hold a hearing on Gulfside's challenge of the rejection of its license application by the Racing Commission.
The second window for applications was opened after all five applicants for the Pope County casino -- Gulfside, Cherokee Nation Businesses, Kehl Management of Iowa, Warner Gaming of Nevada and the Choctaw Nation Division of Commerce -- were rejected by the Racing Commission in June because none contained endorsements from current officials.
Gulfside argues that its application met the constitutional requirements because, unlike the others, it included letters of endorsement from local officials issued right before those officials left office in December. However, Racing Commission rules and state law passed this year say that endorsements must come from officials in office at the time of the application.
Kehl received the backing of a committee of the Russellville City Council but not from the City Council itself. Any endorsement by the city would also require an endorsement by county officials under Amendment 100.
The Racing Commission's next meeting is Thursday.
Hardin said Monday that he doesn't expect much discussion at this week's meeting about the two applications for the Pope County casino license. He said he expects the commission to consider the applications during its Dec. 19 meeting.
Cross announced Wednesday that he had written two letters of endorsement for Cherokee Nation Businesses -- one in support of a casino license for the Hob Nob Road site outside Russellville and another for a potential site within the city limits of Dover. On top of that, the Dover mayor issued his own letter of support. All that was in addition to the Quorum Court's backing.
On Aug. 13, the Pope County Quorum Court approved a resolution supporting Cherokee Nation Businesses for the license. On Oct. 28, the Quorum Court repealed a 2018 initiated county ordinance that required county officials to get permission from voters before they endorsed a casino candidate. No election was ever called.
The next day, Oct. 29, a circuit judge tossed out the lawsuit against the county that was filed by Citizens for a Better Pope County, which contended that the Aug. 13 endorsement violated the ordinance because no election was held. The judge ruled that the ordinance was unconstitutional.
Cross said his second endorsement letter, for Dover, was necessary after Dover Mayor Roger Lee endorsed a Cherokee casino there.
Earlier this month, the Pope County Quorum Court's newly created planning board issued Cherokee Nation Businesses a construction and operation permit to build a casino resort north of Hob Nob Road just outside Russellville.
The terms essentially force Russellville to honor the new permit if the land is annexed into the city in the future.
The Downstream Development Authority of the Quapaw Nation and Cherokee Nation Businesses were the two largest contributors to the Driving Arkansas Forward committee that promoted what is now Amendment 100, contributing $3.78 million and $2.28 million, respectively. The parent company of Southland -- Buffalo, N.Y.-based Delaware North -- chipped in $1.16 million to the committee.
Delaware North contributed $2.62 million to the It's Our Turn committee, which also backed the 2018 casino amendment.
The two committees that promoted the constitutional amendment collectively spent $9.7 million of the $9.8 million in contributions that they raised, according to their final reports filed in December.
Information for this article was contributed by Jeannie Roberts of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
A Section on 11/19/2019