Land Bid May Bring Indian Gaming to Central Arkansas

Gambling, ,

The Quapaw Tribe of Oklahoma has applied with the U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs to have a 160-acre plot of land near the Little Rock Port Authority placed in a trust by the United States for tribal use, according to various news sources.

The Quapaw Tribe has owned the land for about two years. Its application with the Bureau of Indian Affairs would change the designation of the land and significantly affect local regulation and control of the property.

The federal government recognizes multiple types of tribal lands. Typically, these lands are held in “trust” by the federal government. Indian reservations are one example of this federal “trust” system: The federal government, technically, owns the lands, but they are designated for tribal use.

The laws and regulations are a little difficult to navigate, but under federal law, tribes may conduct gambling operations on many of these tribal lands held in trust by the federal government.

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You May Want to Know About These Two Bills

Legislation, , ,

I want to let you know about a couple of bills filed at the Capitol in Little Rock this week that may concern many Arkansans.

The first bill is Senate Bill 745. It amends Arkansas’ so-called “Chuck-E-Cheese Law” by increasing the maximum value of each prize a person may claim for playing coin-operated games.

You’re probably familiar with businesses like Chuck-E-Cheese that allow children to win tickets by playing coin-operated games like skee ball; the tickets can be redeemed for toys or other prizes.

In the mid-1990’s the Arkansas legislature passed a law intended to let family-oriented businesses like Chuck-E-Cheese offer small prizes for these games without allowing full-fledged casinos in Arkansas. To do so, the legislature capped the maximum value of each prize the business offers at $12.50.

Currently, family-oriented businesses like Chuck-E-Cheese may let people play coin-operated games for prizes, provided that the prizes are worth no more than $12.50. S.B. 745 raises that maximum value from $12.50 to $850.

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