Cherokee Nation Entertainment has filed a lawsuit challenging a constitutional amendment that was approved by Arkansas voters and which would revoke the group’s license to open and operate a casino.
According to The Associated Press, the complaint was filed earlier this week in a federal court. It seeks an injunction prohibiting enforcement of the constitutional amendment, which is set to take effect on November 13.
The casino, notes The Associated Press, had been expected to open in Pope County.
Pope County, located in a rural part of Northwest Arkansas, is one of four sites allowed to construct casinos under a 2018 amendment to the state constitution. Casino operations are already underway in the other three locations.
“Cherokee Nation Entertainment is firmly committed to protecting its constitutional rights, defending its lawfully issued casino license, and safeguarding the substantial investments it made in good faith based on the establishment of the Pope County casino license under Amendment 100 in 2018,” said attorney Bart Calhoun, who is representing Cherokee Nation Entertainment in the lawsuit.
“Amendment 104 undermines foundational legal rights and stands to interfere with several binding contractual obligations,” Calhoun said.
The Associated Press reports that the lawsuit is the latest escalation in an increasingly costly battle between the Cherokee Nation and the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, which operates a casino near the Arkansas border in Oklahoma. The two groups spent a combined $30 million on the 2024 ballot measure.
Hans Stiritz, a spokesperson for Local Voters in Charge, said that Cherokee Nation Entertainment is effectively trying to subvert the will of Arkansas voters.
“This legal action to attempt to bypass the voice of Arkansas voters is not unexpected,” said Stiriz, whose group was backed by the Choctaw Nation. “But we are fully confident in the process that brought Issue 2 to the ballot. Arkansas voters have spoken clearly on Issue 2 and we expect it to stand.”
But the lawsuit says that the language of the ballot didn’t make it clear that the constitutional amendment, if passed, would cancel Cherokee Nation Entertainment’s license.
“The voters had no idea, by looking at what was in front of them in the voting booth, that they were revoking CNE’s license or nullifying a government contract,” the lawsuit alleges.
Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin has since criticized the Cherokee Nation’s lawsuit as “baseless,” and says that he will defend voters’ decision to revoke the Pope County casino license.
Sources
Cherokee Nation casino group sues to block recently passed Issue 2
Lawsuit filed over measure approved by Arkansas voters that revoked planned casino’s license
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