Attorney General's News Release

July 23, 1999

Nixon outlines objections to Indian gaming regs; tells mayors to make voices heard on gaming issue in Ozarks

Branson, Mo. — Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon today encouraged mayors and community leaders in southwest Missouri and northwest Arkansas to make their voices heard on the issue of Indian gaming in the Ozarks.

Nixon, who in 1996 succeeded in stopping plans by the Eastern Shawnee tribe for a proposed casino in Newton County, asked a group of more than 50 mayors and community leaders meeting here to join him in filing formal comments to U.S. Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt. The Department of the Interior is accepting comments on proposed amendments to the rules governing when state land can be taken into trust as Indian land. The comment period will extend through Sept. 12.

"This is a matter of grave importance if we are to protect one of the country's finest family entertainment and recreation areas," Nixon said. "Often cities do not understand that placing land into trust as Indian land could provide a toehold for land-based casino gaming."

Nixon's comments to Babbitt, filed earlier this week, outline specific proposals that should be implemented for states such as Missouri, where there have never been any federally recognized Indian lands or reservations. Specifically, Nixon is recommending that:

• An application by tribes to expand across state lines should not be approved over the objection of the Attorney General or the Governor of the state where the expansion would occur.
• The Governor and Attorney General be notified of any application to take land into trust within five business days of the application.
• The complete contents of every application be made available, without redaction, to any member of the public upon request.
• The portion of existing rules which requires an explanation of how the tribe needs additional land in trust and how that land will be used should require the tribe to state its intentions specific to gaming.
• Any representations made by the tribe that gaming rights will be waived should be binding and enforceable by injunction in federal court though action by the Secretary of the Interior or the state's Attorney General.
• Applications of tribal land acquisition must be accompanied by final agreements between the tribe and the state and city where the proposed trust land is located. Such agreements should outline authority over required services including law enforcement, fire protection, emergency medical services, sanitation, trash removal, and payments in lieu of taxes.

Nixon's 1996 lawsuit against the Department of the Interior resulted in a withdrawal by the Eastern Shawnee tribe of Oklahoma of its request to expand into Missouri. In addition, Nixon's office has monitored other attempts by Native American tribes to enter Missouri, including an attempt to open an Indian truck stop on I-70 near Wright City, and other attempts to buy land in the Ozarks.

In 1997, Nixon sued to prevent the introduction of Indian gambling into Missouri via the Internet and succeed in obtaining an injunction against an Indian Internet lottery from operating in Missouri. The case is currently pending in federal district court in Kansas City.

Nixon also secured in September 1998 the first criminal conviction of an Internet gaming enterprise, with the guilty pleas of a Pennsylvania company and its president, for illegally conducting gambling in Missouri. Michael Simone and his business, Interactive Gaming & Communications, were not associated with an Indian tribe.

Inquiries from consumers should be directed to consumer@ago.mo.gov or 1-800-392-8222 (from within Missouri) or 573-751-3321 (outside Missouri).

All media inquiries should be directed to Press Secretary John Fougere.

E-mail      Phone: 573-751-8844         Fax: 573-751-5818