The newly elected Pope County Quorum Court has voiced its opposition to a casino being built there.
At a meeting Thursday night, the Quorum Court passed two resolutions and introduced an ordinance that all would, to some degree, affect plans for a casino.
"It's an expression, a symbolic measure of the current makeup of the court," said County Judge Ben Cross. "It's within their right to do that, but it will have no effect in law."
The Arkansas Racing Commission, which oversees the license application and selection process, has awarded the Pope County casino license to Gulfside Casino Partnership of Mississippi, but the issue is still very much up in the air as lawsuits wend their way through the courts.
One resolution, from Justice of the Peace Lane Scott, asks Cross to rescind his letter of support for Cherokee Nation Businesses.
Under Amendment 100 to the state constitution, a casino operator must have the support of the county judge or quorum court -- and of the mayor if the proposed casino will be located in a city.
Cross said he won't do it because he has a fiduciary duty to the county and rescinding his letter would open the county up to more litigation concerning the casino. Cross said Pope County is going to get a casino one way or the other, and he prefers Cherokee Nation Businesses of Oklahoma over its rival Gulfside Casino Partnership.
Scott said there are six new members on the 13-member Quorum Court, after elections last year, and five of those new members are anti-casino.
"This Quorum Court majority-wise doesn't want any casino," he said.
When asked why the justices of the peace oppose a casino, Scott said, "Some people think it's a sin to gamble. I don't. I'm a Christian. I take the Bible literally, but I'm too cheap to gamble."
Scott said he opposes the casino for several reasons, one of which is that he sees casinos as "government-granted monopolies" that foster "economic leakage," meaning local businesses don't benefit from them. He likened it to being on a cruise ship, where a customer's money -- for food, lodging, entertainment, etc. -- stays on the ship.
Another resolution passed by the Quorum Court on Thursday repeals an earlier resolution supporting Cherokee Nation Businesses casino license application.
"The Quorum Court does not endorse any casino applicant for a license in Pope County, Arkansas," according to the resolutions.
Cross said the Quorum Court's resolution wasn't used by Cherokee Nation Businesses for their casino application -- his letter was.
Resolutions don't carry the weight of law, but ordinances do.
The Quorum Court heard the first reading Thursday night of an ordinance that would require a "vote of the people" in a general or special election before elected officials could provide a letter of support or resolution endorsing a casino applicant.
Scott said it will be read again at Quorum Court meetings in March and April before justices of the peace vote on it.
Cross said if the ordinance is passed the county will get sued again.
"A local ordinance cannot supersede state law or the constitution," he said, citing Arkansas Code Annotated 14-14-914. "This local ordinance would do that. We flat out told them last night, 'You do understand if this passes you'll be subjecting the county to litigation?' So that's kind of where it's at."
Cross, who was an Arkansas State Police trooper for 30 years, said his main duty as county judge is to keep the county from wasting money.
"This case has been tried before and failed," he said. "We certainly don't want to see this litigated again."
Cross said Pope County spent about $50,000 defending a lawsuit over Ordinance 2018-042, a local initiative option on the November 2018 election ballot for Pope County voters only. By a margin of about 60-40, county voters approved the ordinance, which called for local votes on proposed casino plans.
Pope County was sued over the "local option" ballot issue, said Cross. Months later, it was ruled unconstitutional and the Quorum Court repealed the ordinance, he said.
On that same election ballot in 2018, Arkansas voters approved Issue 4, which allowed four casino licenses to be issued in various parts of the state, including one in Pope County. Issue 4 resulted in Amendment 100 to the state constitution.
Five applicants, including Gulfside and Cherokee, applied for the Pope County casino license during the initial May 2019 application period.
The Arkansas Racing Commission denied each application as incomplete for failure to include a letter of support from the county judge or a resolution from the Pope County Quorum Court.
As part of its application, Gulfside had submitted a letter of support from Pope County Judge Jim Ed Gibson, whose term in office ended on Dec. 31, 2018. But his letter was submitted several months after he left office along with Gulfside's application, according to an Arkansas Supreme Court ruling on Thursday.
The commission determined that the letter was not sufficient because Gibson wasn't the sitting county judge at the time of the application.
Gulfside appealed, lost and filed suit against the Commission and the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration asking that the decision be reversed.
In the meantime, Cherokee Nation Businesses obtained support from Cross and executed an economic development agreement with him.
In exchange for county officials' support of its casino application, Cherokee Nation Businesses committed to invest over $40 million in Pope County.
At Cherokee's request, the Commission agreed and reopened the application period. Cherokee Nation Businesses submitted its application with county official support.
On Aug. 23, 2019, after it submitted its application, Cherokee Nation Businesses moved to intervene in Gulfside's lawsuit to defend its right to have its application considered.
A Pulaski County Circuit Judge denied the motion, but the Arkansas Supreme Court reversed and remanded his decision on Thursday saying Cherokee Nation Businesses does have the right to intervene in the lawsuit. It's just one of several lawsuits that have been filed over the casino issue in Pope County.
"Central to our organization's core values is conducting business with integrity and honoring our commitments," Chuck Garrett, CEO of Cherokee Nation Businesses, said Friday. We look forward to fulfilling the commitments we have made to Pope County and the Arkansas River Valley."