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With Recent Actions, Casino Battle Is Heating Up In Pope County, Arkansas

A petition seeks to put an amendment on the November ballot to change AR law to require a county’s voters to decide if they want a casino.

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J.R. Duren Avatar
3 mins read
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In 2018, when Arkansas voters approved an amendment to bring four casinos to four counties, it seemed that gaming was about to explode.

Six years later, three of those four counties have open and operating casinos (Saracen Casino, Oaklawn Hot Springs, and Southland Casino Hotel). The one holdout? Pope County. And more than 160,000 Arkansas voters are hoping to keep it that way.

Additionally, Gulfside Casino Partnership has filed a lawsuit to block the casino after a failed attempt to be the developers. 

Key takeaways

  • A petition to allow casino votes to take place at the county level instead of the state level has enough signatures to put the issue to vote this November via an amendment.
  • Proponents of the petition say it puts gaming decisions in the hands of locals impacted by casino gaming.
  • Opponents say the petition is just a power move by a tribe that lost out on one of four licenses available in the state.
  • Should the petition’s amendment pass in November, it could make legalizing online casinos more difficult.

Petition gets enough signatures for new amendment on ballot

This week, a group named Local Voters in Charge (LVC) submitted around 162,000 signatures for a petition that could profoundly impact gaming in Pope County and beyond.

The petition seeks to put an amendment on the November ballot that would change existing state casino law to require a county’s voters to decide if they want a casino in their county. State rules require at least 90,704 signatures with sufficient representation from at least 50 counties to get a constitutional amendment on the ballot.

So, for now, it seems Local Voters in Charge are well on their way to putting the vote to the people.

Hanz Stiritz, LVC’s spokesperson and one of the three founders of the group, according to state records, corresponded with PlayUSA by email about the amendment.

“We believe the strong signature response reflects the interest of Arkansas voters in supporting the idea of voter rights, especially in the area of casino gambling,” Stiritz wrote.

He went on to point out that LVC isn’t an anti-casino group. Rather, its focus is giving local voters the right to decide if they want a casino in their area. And, according to Stiriz, 61% of Pope County voters didn’t want a casino. Stiritz continued:

“It’s a time-honored tradition to allow local communities to have the final say on gambling in their own jurisdiction. Numerous states across the country require a local option vote before proceeding with a casino development.”

The petition comes at a critical point in Pope County gaming. Last week, the state’s gaming commission awarded Cherokee Nation Entertainment a Pope County casino license. The license was a huge win for the Cherokee Nation, which won once before but lost it after the Arkansas Supreme Court denied it.

However, that win is now up in the air because of the LVC petition and lawsuit from Gulfside Casino Partners.

Is the LVC petition a Choctaw play?

While LVC portrays its petition as a move to put gaming decisions in the hands of locals, others are not convinced. Chari Natalie Ghidotti of Investing in Arkansas told the Arkansas Advocate that the LVC petition is a revenge move by the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.

The Choctaw were competing with the Cherokee for an Arkansas casino license but lost out.

Now, Ghidotti said, the Choctaw are “trying to rob Arkansans of thousands of jobs and shut down what will be historic economic growth for the community, region and state,” she told the Advocate.

An LVC financial report filed on June 17 with the Arkansas Ethics Commission reveals that LVC has received $2,450,100 in contributions — the Choctaw tribe contributed all but $100 of that total.

Could this impact online casinos?

Online casinos are illegal in Arkansas. Typically, a state legalizes online casinos through its legislature. Elected lawmakers wrangle back and forth over online casino regulations, taxes, and other details, then eventually approve (or shoot down) changes to existing gaming laws that carve out a space for iGaming.

However, if Arkansas voters approve LVC’s amendment, future chances of legalizing online casinos get a lot trickier. Online casinos would most likely be approved at the state level and then undergo a vote in each county.

That may be a risk that online casino operators are unwilling to take.

J.R. Duren Avatar
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J.R. Duren has covered the gambling beats for more than a dozen states for Catena Media since 2015. His past reporting experience includes two years at the Villages Daily Sun, and he is a first-place winner at the Florida Press Club Excellence in Journalism Contest.

View all posts by J.R. Duren

J.R. Duren has covered the gambling beats for more than a dozen states for Catena Media since 2015. His past reporting experience includes two years at the Villages Daily Sun, and he is a first-place winner at the Florida Press Club Excellence in Journalism Contest.

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