Legends purchased land for the casino, but progress on the $225 million project has been stalled due to the legal delays. That cleared the way for the commission to award the license to Cherokee Nation Businesses LLC/Legends Resort and Casino LLC in November 2021. However, the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled that Gulfside’s support letter from the previous Pope County judge was invalid because he was not in office at the time of the application. It first declined to award the license to any applicant, but in 2020, it gave Gulfside the Pope County license. The four-year saga over the Pope County casino license has been as litigious as it is slow.Īfter Arkansans legalized up to four casinos through a 2018 ballot initiative, the Arkansas Racing Commission opened the application period in 2019. The Cherokees on Friday filed a notice of appeal to the Arkansas Supreme Court

“We remain confident in our legal position and will move quickly to have our appeal heard by the Arkansas Supreme Court.” “While the circuit court’s ruling is disappointing, in the interest of forward progress, we are pleased to have a decision,” said Chuck Garrett, CEO of Cherokee Nation Businesses. While certainly a blow to the Cherokees, CNB and other case parties had been eagerly awaiting a ruling for nearly a year, knowing any decision would be appealed. “The Pope County casino license issued jointly to Legends and CNB on November 12, 2021, is declared a nullity and is void and of no effect.” “The fact that CNB may be one of the members of Legends, or even the only member of Legends, does not alter the legal status that CNB and Legends are distinct and separate legal entities.”įox also said that CNB was not even an applicant when it received a license because its earlier application had been rejected by the Racing Commission. “CNB and Legends are two separate legal entities,” Fox wrote in the ruling, dated Thursday. The Arkansas Racing Commission issued the license jointly to CNB and Legends. The Cherokees argued that Cherokee Nation Businesses, which does have experience running casinos, is the sole member of Legends Resort and Casino LLC. Pulaski County Circuit Judge Tim Fox sided with arguments from a Legends competitor, Gulfside Casino Partnership, that Legends’ corporate structure meant that it did not have prior experience operating a casino and was not qualified to hold the Pope County license.

The long-awaited ruling will be appealed to the Arkansas Supreme Court, which will again decide the fate of Arkansas’ fourth and, for now, final casino. 13, 2023, at 5:40 p.m.Ī judge has stripped Legends Resort and Casino and Cherokee Nation Businesses of the license to operate a casino in Pope County.

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