The Joint Budget Committee on Thursday completed its review of the Arkansas Racing Commission's revisions of casino gambling rules that would clear the way for the commission to set a 30-day application period for the Pope County casino license.
The action came a day after its Administrative Rule Review Subcommittee reviewed and approved the racing commission's revised rules and sent them to the full Joint Budget Committee for final approval.
The attorney general's office has submitted the final rules to the secretary of state's office and the rules will become effective 10 days from Thursday, state Department of Finance and Administration spokesman Scott Hardin said after the Joint Budget Committee meeting.
"The Commission does not intend on holding a meeting until the rules become effective," he said. "At that point, the Commission can meet and proceed with the new application period."
The commission approved revising its casino gaming rules March 11 after the Arkansas Supreme Court on Jan. 11 denied a petition from Legends Resort and Casino and Oklahoma-based Cherokee Nation Businesses seeking a rehearing in the case in which the court ruled the Arkansas Racing Commission's award of the Pope County casino license to the consortium violated Amendment 100 to the Arkansas Constitution.
In a 5-2 ruling Oct. 26, the Arkansas Supreme Court affirmed a ruling by Pulaski County Circuit Judge Tim Fox issued in January 2023. Fox ruled the racing commission erred by awarding the license to two entities when the Arkansas Constitution states that only a single entity can hold a casino license, and that Legends does not meet the licensing requirements written into the Arkansas Constitution because the company has no prior casino experience.
The Cherokee/Legends Consortium appealed Fox's ruling to the state Supreme Court.
Doralee Chandler, deputy attorney general for state agencies, told state lawmakers Wednesday that as a result of the state Supreme Court's ruling, the racing commission's casino gaming rules need to be amended to allow for a path forward for the commission to open a new application period for the Pope County casino license. In addition, she said there were some typographical corrections that were made in the revised rules.
On March 20, Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin revised and certified ballot language for a proposed constitutional amendment that would repeal the racing commission's authority to issue a casino license in Pope County and require local voter approval in a countywide special election for a new casino license outside of three counties in Arkansas.
The attorney general's action cleared the way for the Local Voters in Charge ballot committee to begin collecting signatures of registered voters in its bid to qualify its proposed constitutional amendment for the Nov. 5 general election ballot.
The committee will be required to turn in 90,704 signatures of registered Arkansas voters, including signatures from 50 counties, to the secretary of state's office by July 5 to qualify the proposed constitutional amendment for the general election ballot.
The proposed amendment would repeal authorization for a casino in Pope County under Amendment 100 to the Arkansas Constitution, and revoke any casino license issued for Pope County prior to the Nov. 13, 2024, effective date of the proposed constitutional amendment. If a constitutional amendment authorizes or otherwise allows the issuance of a casino license in any county other than issued for casinos operating in Crittenden, Garland and Jefferson counties, the Quorum Court of each county where a casino is to be located would be required to call a special election to submit the question of whether to approve a casino in the county under this proposed constitutional amendment.
Amendment 100 to the Arkansas Constitution, approved by voters in November 2018, authorized what is now Southland Casino Hotel in West Memphis and Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort in Hot Springs to expand into full-fledged casinos. The amendment also allows the racing commission to license a casino apiece in Jefferson and Pope counties, and authorized sports betting at the casinos.
In June 2019, the commission awarded the Jefferson County license to Oklahoma-based Downstream Development Authority of the Quapaw Nation. The commission subsequently voted to transfer the license to Saracen Development LLC. The casino in Pine Bluff is now called Saracen Casino Resort.