Casino Stalker | Litigation

Wyandotte Nation sues over off-reservation casino application

Friday, July 29, 2011

The Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma is suing the Obama administration for failing to approve its land-into-trust application for an off-reservation casino.

The tribe acquired 10.5 acres in Park City, Kansas, through a land claim settlement. The law mandates that the Interior Department place the site in trust.

However, the Bureau of Indian Affairs has failed to take action. The tribe's application has been pending since January 2009.

"We were left with no recourse but to take action against the department," Chief Billy Friend told The Wichita Eagle. "We felt like we were patient."

Generally, land acquired after 1988 can't be used for gaming. But an exception in Section 20(b)(1)(B)(i) of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act allows tribes to open casinos in connection with a land claim settlement.

The Wyandotte Nation is only one of two tribes in the history of IGRA to successfully utilize the land claim exception. The tribe operates a casino in downtown Kansas City and won numerous court decisions against the state of Kansas, other Kansas tribes and the federal government.

However, a Republican lawmaker is trying to insert a rider into the H.R.2584, Interior appropriations bill, that would block the use of federal funds to "implement, administer, or enforce" Section 20(b)(1)(B)(i).

The Wyandotte Nation's lawsuit was filed in federal court in Washington, D.C.

Get the Story:
Tribe sues feds over Park City casino land (The Wichita Eagle 7/29)

Advertisement