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State takes blame for sharing Tohono O'odham Nation minutes

Friday, July 22, 2016

Tohono O'odham Nation leaders cut the ribbon on the new Desert Diamond Casino - West Valley in Glendale, Arizona, on December 20, 2015. Photo from Facebook

The Arizona Department of Gaming admits to sharing internal Tohono O'odham Nation documents with a rival tribe.

The department gave the minutes in which Tohono O'odham leaders discussed casino plans to the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community. That tribe then gave the documents to its public relations firm, which then gave them to a reporter.

“At some point, lawyers for the SRPM tribe gave those documents over to whomever,” a spokesperson for the department told The Peoria Times.

The spokesperson also said the minutes are considered "public record" so they would have been released at some point. But Daniel Bergin, the department's director, had not expected them end up in the hands of the media.

"It’s all public record, but it was not Director Bergin’s intention they be used except for legal analysis," the spokesperson told The Times.

Arizona Casino Wars: Tribes battle over new gaming facility in the Phoenix area

According to Capitol Media Services, the news organization that received the minutes, Tohono O'odham leaders were pursuing a casino in the Phoenix area as early as 2002. Rival tribes like Salt River claim the project undermines the promises made to voters about new developments in urban areas.

In 2002, voters approved Proposition 202 in order to authorize the state to enter into Class III gaming compacts with tribes. The Tohono O'odham Nation signed an agreement but it did not bar the tribe from pursuing the new casino.

The state could have asked for a restriction and agreements with other tribes -- namely Salt River -- contain limits on new developments.

The Tohono O'odham Nation subsequently announced plans for a casino in Glendale, a suburb of Phoenix, in January 2009. After numerous legal and political battles that included Salt River, the Desert Diamond West Valley Casino and Resort opened last December.

The state, however, won't certify it under the Class III gaming compact, alleging fraud by the tribe. That prompted the tribe to sue Bergin's department, resulting in the release of the internal documents.

The state is also refusing to issue a liquor license for the casino.

Get the Story:
Documents from Tohono O’odham lawsuit vs. state find way from one attorney to another, then to PR firm, then to reporter (The Peoria Times 7/22)