A commissioner in Coos County, Oregon, refused to attend a public hearing on Wednesday because it was held at the casino owned by the Coquille Tribe.

Commissioner Bob Main said it was illegal to hold county meetings on Indian land. "I just don't think we had authority to be there to conduct an official board of commissioner's meeting," he told The Coos Bay World.

The tribe and other county officials were shocked by Main's boycott. The Mill Casino, they pointed out, is within county borders.

'The land that The Mill Casino sits on is not foreign soil, and it doesn't take much effort to reveal that," tribal attorney Brett Kenney told the paper.

In an editorial, the paper said Oregon law allows county meetings "within the geographic boundaries over which the public body has jurisdiction."

Get the Story:
Bob Main skips meeting (The Coos Bay World 8/2)

An Opinion:
Editorial: Where's the casino? (The Coos Bay World 8/2)