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AUGUST 15, 2000

New Mexico's 12 gaming Pueblos and tribes have asked for the dismissal of a lawsuit filed against them by the state Attorney General.

The Pueblos filed a motion in federal court on Monday, seeking dismissal of a suit filed in June by Patricia Madrid. Madrid wants the tribes to pay 16 percent of their revenues to the state or stop operating.

The 16 percent revenue sharing rate was instituted by 1997 compacts. The tribes have long protested the rate as an illegal tax and are supported by the Department of Interior regarding the rate.

The tribes have also wanted a court to rule on the legality of the rate under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) of 1988. A ruling in their favor would throw out only that provision of the compact and allow the casinos to continue operation.

But the state wants the entire compacts declared void should a court find the rate illegal.

The tribes named in the suit are the the Jicarilla Apache, the Mescalero Apache, and and the pueblos of Acoma, Isleta, Laguna, Pojoaque, Sandia, San Felipe, San Juan, Santa Ana, Taos and Tesuque.

As of April, all had either refused or stopped making payments to the state.

Get the Lawsuit:
State of New Mexico v. Jicarilla Apache Tribe, et al.

Related Stories:
State sues tribes (Money Matters 06/14)

Relevant Links:
STATEMENT OF SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR BRUCE BABBITT ON THE NEW MEXICO GAMING COMPACTS (Department of Interior. August 23, 1997)