Prairie Band wants to pay for county's attorney

Wednesday, January 23, 2008  

The Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation of Kansas says it will pay for the attorney hired by DeKalb County, Illinois.

The tribe wants to open a Class II facility in the county. The two sides are proposing an agreement to address municipal services, revenue sharing and other issues.

The county hired Indian law attorney Dennis Whittlesey to handle the agreement. But opponents want another legal opinion because the tribe has said it would pay for Whittlesey's services.

The agreement is contingent on a pending Indian lands opinion from the National Indian Gaming Commission. The tribe says it can game on a 128-parcel in the county because the land was part of an ancestral 1,200-acre reservation.

Get the Story:
Second opinion recommended for county board on bingo issue (The Midweek News 1/23)