{"id":123774,"date":"2020-01-07T11:26:15","date_gmt":"2020-01-07T19:26:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=123774"},"modified":"2020-01-07T12:29:15","modified_gmt":"2020-01-07T20:29:15","slug":"pope-county-arkansas-casino-proposal-delayed-following-court-ruling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pope-county-arkansas-casino-proposal-delayed-following-court-ruling\/","title":{"rendered":"Pope County Arkansas Casino Proposal Delayed Following Court Ruling"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Pope County, Arkansas-planned gaming operation was temporarily blocked after a local judge approved a restraining order. The ruling prevents the Arkansas Racing Commission from issuing a casino license or considering applications.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Pulaski County Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen has blocked the Arkansas Racing Commission from moving forward with a casino proposal in Pope County. (Image: Associated Press\/Andrew DeMillo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The commission also canceled Monday\u2019s meeting following the judge\u2019s decision, Nikki Langston, an administrative analyst for the commission, told Casino.org<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\n

The commission planned to hold a public hearing to discuss the license for the casino. Under the current proposal, the casino would be operated by the Cherokee Nations Businesses, based in Oklahoma.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Last week, Pulaski County Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen reviewed the request for an emergency temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction.<\/p>\n

\u201cBased on that review, the Court concludes that a Temporary Restraining Order is warranted,\u201d Griffen said in his ruling released on Friday.<\/p>\n

The ruling was in response to a motion filed by Citizens for a Better Pope County, according to Fox 16 TV News in Little Rock. The group is opposed to the casino and filed a lawsuit against its opening.<\/p>\n

Second Application Period Controversy<\/h2>\n

The citizens\u2019 group lawsuit contends the Racing Commission improperly permitted a second application period for casino license applications. The second period violates the commission\u2019s rules, according to the Arkansas Times<\/em>, because the second period would only be allowed if no applications were received in the first application period.<\/p>\n

In the first period, during last May, five applications were submitted to the commission, the Times<\/em> reported. None were accepted by the commission in June.<\/p>\n

So, the second application period was approved by the racing commission, according to the Associated Press. During the second period, the Cherokees submitted their application. The Pope County Quorum Count — its city council — endorsed a casino plan from the Cherokee Nation Businesses in August.<\/p>\n

\n

Also, last week Pulaski County Circuit Judge Tim Fox ruled the second application period was improper, given gambling regulations, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette <\/em>reported.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

In November, Choctaw Nation became the second Oklahoma tribe to apply for the Pope County gaming license in Arkansas. But the application did not have required support from Pope County officials.<\/p>\n

The Choctaw Nation operates three casino resorts and 18 other gaming venues in Oklahoma.<\/p>\n

The planned Pope casino is the fourth and final gaming license that remains up for grabs in the state.<\/p>\n

Casinos Elsewhere in Arkansas<\/h2>\n

The Oaklawn and Southland tracks are now functioning as commercial casinos, with table games and slot machines. Earlier, Jefferson County<\/a> picked the Quapaw Nation in Oklahoma to build a casino resort in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. The tribe is planning to build a clone of its Downstream Casino Resort at a cost of roughly $350 million.<\/p>\n

Previously, Arkansas voters approved casinos in a statewide ballot. Over 54 percent of voters supported the measure.<\/p>\n

But in Pope, more than 60 percent of voters said they did not want a casino.<\/p>\n

Russellville<\/a> residents have opposed a casino in their Pope County town. But local officials accepted bids from gaming operators.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Pope County, Arkansas-planned gaming operation was temporarily blocked after a local judge approved a restraining order. The ruling prevents the Arkansas Racing Commission from issuing a casino license or considering applications. The commission also canceled Monday\u2019s meeting following the judge\u2019s decision, Nikki Langston, an administrative analyst for the commission, told Casino.org. The commission planned […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":123776,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[60,18],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPope County Arkansas Casino Proposal Delayed Following Court Ruling<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A Pope County, Arkansas planned gaming operation was temporarily blocked after a local judge approved a restraining order.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pope-county-arkansas-casino-proposal-delayed-following-court-ruling\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pope County Arkansas Casino Proposal Delayed Following Court Ruling\" 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