Commissioners for Cherokee County reached an agreement with a Missouri-based company, under which the latter would finance the county’s bills related to its legal fight against the potential construction of a casino in neighboring Crawford County.
Under the terms of the agreement, Cherokee County will have two years to repay Penfield’s Business Centers the amount of $150,000, if a casino is built. However, if the gambling venue never gets completed, the county will not have to return the money.
Managing partner Gary Hall and his company will fund the legal fees Cherokee County has amassed while fighting the Kansas Lottery Gaming Facilities Review Board’s decision to back the Kansas Cross Casino project in nearby Crawford County. Mr. Hall owns the land where the casino would have been built, if the state casino review board had approved the Cherokee County proposal.
The executive told local media that he wants to cover the county’s legal fees as he believes local community would highly benefit from a gambling venue in the area. A casino in Cherokee County would bring prestigious poker tournaments and even a hockey team.
Commenting on Mr. Hall’s decision to pay the county’s legal bills, Carrie Tedore, a spokeswoman for the Kansas Crossing Casino project in Crawford County, said that it is indicative of Cherokee County commissioners’ continued attempts to benefit several of its well-to-do citizens and to sell an extremely expensive portion of land.
Cherokee County recently filed a lawsuit against the state Lottery Gaming Facilities Review Board, arguing that board members had awarded arbitrarily the casino license to neighboring Crawford County. Commissioners for Cherokee County noted that they want another selection process to be carried out.
If it had been backed by state regulators, the county would have built the $145-million Castle Rock Casino Resort. The property would have featured a spacious casino floor, a 200-room hotel, and a number of food and beverage, and entertainment options.
As for the casino proposed by Crawford County, it is much smaller in scale and its construction is expected to cost about $70 million. In fact, it was the least expensive and smallest of all three casino proposals for the region.
