Arizona Director of Department of Gaming, Daniel Bergin, turned once again to federal court in an attempt to prevent the Tohono O’odham Nation from building a fully-fledged casino right outside Glendale.
In a new federal court filing, the state’s top gaming official argued that back in 2002, Arizona residents and officials approved a ballot measure that gave tribes the right to establish casinos and operate them. However, they had promised in their Proposition 202 that no gambling venues would be opened in the Phoenix area and only one such venue would be allowed in Tucson.
With the $200-million plan for a Class III or full-scale casino in Glendale, Mr. Bergin argued that the Tohono O’odham Nation has broken its promise. Lawyers for the gaming officials told federal court that Arizona would not have inked the compact with the tribe, if it had revealed its plans to establish casinos in the Phoenix area.
According to Mr. Bergin, Arizona officials found out about the Tohono O’odham Nation’s intention to buy a portion of land in Glendale, make it part of its reservation, and eventually run a casino there, only after Proposition 202 had been approved by voters.
Arizona’s top gaming official said that the state has enough ground to refuse to grant a Class III gambling license to the tribe.
Mr. Bergin’s filing comes as a response to Tohono O’odham Nation’s lawsuit filed a few months ago. The tribe asked US District Court Judge David Campbell to rule that the Department of Gaming’s director should provide the much-needed license for the operation of all kind of gambling options, in order for the casino to be launched on schedule this December.
Earlier this year, Mr. Bergin refused to grant the said certification. In his latest filing, he said that the judge should rule the compact between the tribe and the state invalid as tribal officials had misled Arizona officials and voters.
However, the gaming director may face a serious setback. In 2013, state officials filed a similar lawsuit, claiming that residents had purposefully been misled into voting for a measure that had excluded the possibility for the establishment of new casinos in Phoenix and the area. However, Judge Campbell dismissed the lawsuit, noting that what voters had really voted for was a language that turned into the basis for the state’s compact with the tribe.
The judge also pointed out that “no reasonable reading” of the agreement could make a person believe that it banned the construction of full-scale gambling venues in the Phoenix area.
The tribe has previously pointed out that it would launch its casino in December no matter what the outcome of the lawsuit would be. However, the new casino would only operate Class II gaming machines, which are very similar to traditional slot machines but actually feature bingo games. Arizona officials do not have the authority to regulate this type of gaming on reservation land.
