Choctaws won't build casino without local support

Monday, May 22, 2006  

The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians won't build an off-reservation casino without the support of local voters, Chief Phillip Martin said.

The tribe asked Jackson County to schedule a nonbinding referendum in 2008. But if voters say no, the tribe won't do anything, Martin told The Mississippi Press in an interview.

"It's the only proper way to do this," Martin told the paper. "Why build something the community doesn't want?"

The tribe owns land near Interstate 10 in Ocean Springs, more than 200 miles from its reservation.

Get the Story:
No casino without voters' consent (The Mississippi Press 5/20)
Fight brews over Coast casino (The Jackson Clarion-Ledger 5/20)