County to sue DOI over Quapaw Tribe's casino

Tuesday, January 22, 2008  

The Cherokee County Commission in Kansas plans to sue the Bush administration for allowing the Quapaw Tribe of Oklahoma to build a casino.

The commission questions whether the land the $200 million Downstream Casino Resort is using for the project is held in trust. The gaming portion is located on 85 acres in Oklahoma, with a parking lot on 63 acres in Kansas and driveway on 30 acres in Missouri.

Assistant secretary Carl Artman, in a letter to Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kansas), said the Oklahoma portion was taken into trust under the Indian Land Consolidation Act. Artman said the Bureau of Indian Affairs determined the land was in the Quapaw Tribe's former reservation.

The letter, however, states the National Indian Gaming Commission has not issued an "Indian lands" opinion on the Oklahoma parcel. Artman said the Missouri and Kansas portions don't have to be taken into trust since no gaming will occur on those sites.

Get the Story:
Cherokee County Commission votes to sue federal government over Quapaw casino issue (The Joplin Globe 1/22)