Gaming agency urges end to casino fight
Federal gaming agency urges end to casino fight

By Tony Thornton Comments 3
Published: February 29, 2008

Federal Indian gaming regulators Thursday urged New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson to avoid a showdown over an Oklahoma-based tribe's small, isolated casino.

More Info

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson ordered a blockade Wednesday of the Fort Sill Apache Tribe's new casino in Deming, N.M., shown in this provided photo. Photo Provided By Jeff Houser

NewsOK Related Articles

The National Indian Gaming Commission's letter to Richardson came one day after the same agency said it likely would intervene if the Fort Sill Apache Tribe opens its 120-machine casino.

Richardson ordered a blockade Wednesday by the New Mexico State Police amid reports that the tribe planned to let casino workers test the machines Thursday.

About 50 state officers responded, although by Thursday only about a dozen remained at the site.

The heightened tension prompted this urging, aimed at Richardson, from the National Indian Gaming Commission's top attorney: "We encourage the state not to take any action that would cause a confrontation. We are extremely hopeful at this point that we will resolve the pending issues in a manner that does not place anyone at risk.”

The tribe's chairman, Jeff Houser, said Richardson's blockade scared a gambling machine vendor out of delivering equipment Thursday.

"We think it's a very intimidating action to have armed officers at the opening of our facility,” Houser said.

The casino site is on Interstate 10, roughly halfway between Deming and Las Cruces in southwest New Mexico.

The nearest casino is 150 miles away.

Houser said he hoped to open the casino by early April. If it is successful, it will be replaced by a much larger version, he said.

Land status in question

At issue is whether the 30 acres the tribe owns there qualifies for a casino.

Federal regulators, in a letter Wednesday to Houser, said their preliminary view is that the land isn't eligible for tribal gaming.

When the agency's analysis is finished, "it is very likely that the chairman will take action to close the operation if you proceed to open it. Furthermore, the tribe risks enforcement action even if it only opens for a matter of hours,” the letter states.

The agency urged him to go through the lengthy process necessary to receive the federal government's blessing. That process requires approval from the state's governor.

Given Richardson's stance, "That's not going to happen,” Houser said.

He said the real issue is that the casino houses Class II electronic machines, or those based on bingo. Under federal law, such machines don't require a tribe to pay the state a percentage of its revenue.

Houser said Richardson wants only Class III machines, which require tribes to pay between 3 and 9.75 percent.

Tribe disputes governor's claims

Richardson praised the federal agency, saying the letter makes it clear that regulators consider the casino illegal.

"Today's ruling is crucial, because it is our understanding that the Fort Sill Apaches were going to attempt to open the facility for a few hours today in an attempt to the legitimize the operation,” Richardson said in the news release.

Richardson's news release made repeated references to the tribe's "illegal” casino.

"We don't believe our casino is illegal,” Houser said. "We've followed the rules; we always have.”

The tribe has a small casino in Lawton but cannot open another one in Oklahoma, as part of a lawsuit settlement involving the Comanche Nation and the Interior Department.

In 2002, the federal government placed 30 acres into trust for the tribe at the New Mexico casino site.

Richardson claims the tribe agreed then that gambling never would be conducted there.

"We didn't say we would never use it for gaming,” said Houser, who wasn't chairman at the time. "What we said was that at that time, there would be no change in use.”

"Governments change their minds all the time,” he said.

The tribe's headquarters are near Apache, OK. Once known as the Chiricahua Apache, the tribe was imprisoned for refusing to surrender their land.

Tribe members spent two decades at Fort Sill as prisoners of war before their 1914 release.