Mississippi Group Launches Bid for Arkansas Casino License

Gulfside Casino Partnership, owners of the Mississippi Casino, announced a proposal for a casino in Russellville, Arkansas. The application also features letters of …

…from former local leaders. However, according to the Racing Commission regulations, endorsement letters are only accepted if obtained from current officeholders. This means the company could be put on hold until the locals back the application.

Amendment Brings Changes

Scott Hardin, spokesman for the Department of Finance and istration announced that the state received a license bid from Gulfside Casino Partnership for a casino in Russellville —Pope County River Valley Casino. Just to remind you, the company currently operates Island View Casino Resort in Gulfport, Mississippi. However, the final outcome is not so clear yet…

…due to the constitutional amendment from November last year. Voters greenlighted the legalization of casinos in Pope and Jefferson counties, at a Hot Springs horse track and a West Memphis dog track. In addition to this, the amendment also solidified the existing casinos at Oaklawn and Southland Parks and cut their gambling taxes.

On the other hand, an application for the Jefferson County license from the Downstream Development Authority, a business arm of the Quapaw tribe has full from local officials. Though the project encountered some significant obstacles along the way, still the course of events led it to a positive outcome.

Waiting for Local

As far as Hardin pointed out, the Pope County application included letters from former local leaders. However, Racing Commission regulations clearly states that only documents of from current officeholders are the acceptable ones. Gulfside’s approval letters come from local officials in Russellville and Pope County last year. The endorsement papers actually came before the permit process had opened. Since then, the Racing Commission has adopted a rule which clearly defines that the only valid document is a local approval from officials in office, obtained when an application is filed.

In the meantime, sports betting in the state seems to be opening the doors to this possibility, by granting 4-multichannel licenses. As far as the proposal says, only establishments that are situated in counties with more than 25,000 people are eligible for the operating license.

Different Legal Opinions

As far as the current mayor and county judge pointed out, neither of them intends to a casino without a local vote first, as requested by an ordinance adopted in November. Different opinions are expressed regarding the referendum requirement…

…questioning if it can legally be added to of the casino amendment. So far, at least two other suppliers have expressed an interest in Pope County, but haven’t filed applications. The requests are not open to inspection until the Racing Commission acts. They will be accepted through May 30th and the Commission is expected to meet on June 13th.

Source:

“Mississippi group submits first bid for a casino license in Arkansas”, yogonet.com, May 23, 2019.