Mississippi Choctaw government rejects petition against casino

Tuesday, May 30, 2017  

Citizens of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians are vowing to fight back after the tribal government reject their anti-casino petition.

A group called Chahta for Better Government collected more than 1,700 signatures to put the $25 million Red Water Casino to a vote of the people. But tribal officials rejected more than 100 signatures, leaving the petition just 5 short of the amount needed to schedule a referendum.

"The referendum process is far from over," the group said on Facebook on Tuesday. "Once we receive the petition certification in the mail we have 20 business days to go to court. During the court process is when we will know whose petition was thrown out and why."

The 35,800 square-foot Red Water Casino will be located in Leake County in Mississippi. The site is about 30 miles from Pearl River Resort, the tribe's flagship gaming resort.

The tribe also operates the the Bok Homa Casino in a satellite community about 100 miles away. Red Water will be similar in size to that facility.

Read More on the Story:
Choctaw petition regarding future Red Water casino fails (WTOK 5/30)

Mississippi Choctaw citizens request vote on $25M casino project (May 23, 2017)