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THURSDAY, AUGUST 16, 2001

Approval of gaming compacts the state of New Mexico recently finalized with 10 tribes has been delayed because a federal judge won't finalize a $91 million settlement the sides have reached.

U.S. District Judge Bruce Black wants the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Colorado to determine if he is allowed to sign off on the settlement. Only when the settlement is approved can the compacts be approved by the Department of Interior.

The compacts were approved by the Legislature earlier this year. They cap slot machine sharing with the state at 8 percent, down from the 16 percent the previous compact required.

The one condition the Legislature applied was that the tribes settle back payments they owe on the old compacts. After months of negotiations, 10 tribes and Attorney General Patricia Madrid announced a settlement last week.

The tribes had been holding off sharing slot funds with the state. Two tribes are still not willing to sign the settlement.

Those two tribes, the Mescalero Apache Nation and Pojoaque Pueblo, are the reason Black is delaying the process. They filed court papers challenging his authority to approve the decrees.

Get the Story:
Judge Holds Off on Casino Decrees (The Albuquerque Journal 8/16)

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