Kansas Lawsuit Opposing Quapaw Tribe Gaming Expansion Dismissed

According to a news release from the Quapaw Tribe, a federal judge has issued an order today dismissing litigation by the State of Kansas against the National Indian Gaming Commission and various officials of the tribe of Oklahoma.

A spokesperson for the tribe says the decision is an "attempt to prevent the tribe from conducting gaming on its reservation land in Kansas."

U.S. District Judge Daniel D. Crabtree, of the federal court in Topeka, in a 38-page ruling dismissed Kansas’ claims against the NIGC and various federal officers and against three tribal governmental entities and 18 tribal elected officers, agency heads and enterprise directors.

The State of Kansas filed the suit to attempt to challenge an advisory letter opinion issued by the NIGC ruling that the Quapaw Tribe’s reservation land in Kansas is eligible for gaming. 

12/4/2015 Related Story: Quapaw Tribe Says Feds OK Downstream Casino Expansion Into Kansas

The Tribe’s Indian land in Kansas is located within the Kansas portion of its historic reservation, which is within both of the present-day states of Kansas and Oklahoma. The land at issue is adjacent to the Tribe’s upscale Downstream Casino Resort in Oklahoma.

The court agreed with the federal government and the Quapaw Tribe that the state could not challenge the NIGC’s advisory opinion, the news release says.

The court also rejected the state’s challenge to the federal regulations that allow the Quapaw Tribe to conduct gaming on the land. 

Judge Crabtree dismissed the claims against the individual tribal officers and directors. He found the state does not have authority to enforce federal law, and also that the individual tribal leaders are not engaging in any violation of federal law, according to the release.

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback initially encouraged the pursuit of gaming on the land and began tribal-state gaming compact negotiations in early 2013, the tribe says.

“The tribe obtained the advisory letter opinion at the insistence of Brownback,” the tribe said in a statement. “However, Brownback later stopped negotiating in good faith, decided to sue the Quapaw Tribe, and began supporting a state-owned casino in the area.”