If we were in betting mood, we'd lay money on the probability that Pope County will, eventually, end up with a casino operating within its borders.
It is, after all, one of only four counties in the entire state authorized by the state Constitution to host a casino, and only two for which any organization with gaming experience can apply.
What’s the point?
Political leaders and residents face a difficult challenge if they plan to resist all efforts to build and operate a casino in Pope County.
The amount of money involved -- to the casino operator and to the state of Arkansas -- is significant. It's unlikely, with voters having backed only four legal casino locations in the state, that pro-gaming forces will be willing to accept allowing only three-fourths of those to actually operate. Voters' intentions, after all, were to authorize four casinos in the state -- one each in Garland, Jefferson, Crittenden and Pope counties.
The fact that voters in Pope County, taken as a whole, did not favor the casino amendment doesn't change the fact that the amendment exists as constitutional law. It certainly has its influence on local officials and how they respond to their constituents, but not on whether Amendment 100's provisions apply.
The legal topography of this situation promises more ups , downs and curves than Arkansas Highway 7. But it says something that four separate casino operators have submitted or plan to submit applications to become the home for high rollers in Pope County. Its future as a gaming site is more hotly contested than any of the other three (two of the licenses went to existing race tracks as a result of the amendments provisions; Jefferson County appears to have only one applicant making moves).
The first Pope County application arrived from Mississippi-based Gulfside Casino Partnerships, a company that has publicly been the most aggressive in trying to lay claim to a casino license. It managed to get two community leaders who held the offices of county judge and Russellville mayor last year to issue letters of support for their application. The amendment states that applications for casinos in Pope and Jefferson counties must include letters of support from either the county judge or the Quorum Court. If the casino is to be built within city limits in those counties, it also must have the mayor's support.
The tricky part is this: The two men who issued the letters were politically lame ducks -- the mayor having been defeated, the county judge who left office after 20 years. Their letters meant nothing because the application period for casinos didn't even open until this year. The Arkansas Racing Commission, and anyone with common sense, determined it made sense only to accept letters from officeholders who actually hold office during the application period.
Still, Gulfside threatens to sue if the state doesn't recognize the lame duck letters.
Neither of the current officials -- Pope County Judge Ben Cross or Russellville Mayor Richard Harris -- have so far backed any of the casino applications.
Cross has said he anticipates three more casino operators -- Warner Gaming of Las Vegas, Choctaw Nation and Cherokee Nation -- will apply for the Pope County license.
We have no clue how the state of Arkansas will work out this application mess, and it's virtually assured to end up in the courts. Can one or two public officials really be in control of whether a casino is installed? Maybe.
Gulfside has been quite brazen in trying to shove its wishes down the throats of Pope County residents. It seems right and fair that the state of Arkansas should be just as brazen in its absolute rejection of those letters of support by two now-gone public officials.
Cross and Harris appear ready to remain neutral on the applications, which begs the question of what's best for the communities involved. If one assumes nobody is going to keep a casino operation out of Pope County, would these two elected leaders be better off to have a say in who it is?
At some point, these community leaders are going to have to evaluate the options and go to their constituents to communicate about what's best for Pope County.
The effort to build and operate a casino there isn't going away.
Commentary on 05/24/2019