Just last Thursday the Board of Cherokee County Commissioners along with the Attorney General of Kansas, Derek Schmidt, filed a preliminary injunction towards the Quapaw Tribe. The injunction was filed in federal court and is calling for the tribe to be temporarily restrained from expanding their Downstream Casino located in Oklahoma into the state of Kansas. Schmidt claimed?in the filing that if the tribe is allowed to move forward with their plans, the state of Kansas will suffer.
Based on the information of the filing, the Quapaw tribe has already moved construction equipment to the site to begin moving forward with their casino expansion plans. In 2014, the tribe was granted land that is located in the SE portion of Kansas.
The original plan was to use the land in Kanas for a parking lot of the casino. However, in December 2014, the National Indian Gaming Commission ruled the tribe could build a casino on-site. Officials of Kansas believe they have been deceived by the Quapaw’s by changing their plans.?According to the Chairman of the Quapaw Tribe, John Berrey, the intention of the tribe was not to lie to anyone and he is calling the motives of the state to be racist and dubious.
Officials in Kansas are reviewing applications for a casino to be located in the southeastern portion of the state, which would be under stiff competition if the Quapaw Tribe is allowed to open a casino in this area of the state as well. Berrey has pointed out that the injunction on the tribe is ‘against nothing’ as the equipment now on the Kansas land is being used for carpet replacement and the tribe has yet to decide when construction is to begin.