Arkansas panel awards Cherokee Nation Entertainment a license to build casino

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The Arkansas Racing Commission on Thursday awarded Cherokee Nation Entertainment a license to build a casino in the state that’s been held up for several years by ongoing legal fights.

The panel voted unanimously to award the license for the casino in Pope County, the fourth and final casino allowed under a constitutional amendment voters approved in 2018.

Pope County was one of four sites where casinos were allowed to be built under a constitutional amendment that voters approved in 2018. Casinos have already been set up in the other three locations.

Cherokee Nation Entertainment has said it plans to build a 50,000-square-foot casino northeast of Russellville, 60 miles (97 kilometers) northwest of Little Rock. Plans also call for a 200-room hotel, a conference center and outdoor music venue.

“With the license in hand, we are prepared to finalize the remaining permitting and administrative processes so we can commence construction,” Chuck Garrett, CEO of Cherokee Nation Entertainment, said in a statement.

The application process for the casino was reopened last year when the state Supreme Court upheld a judge’s ruling voiding the license previously awarded to Cherokee Nation.

The Cherokee Nation’s application was the only one considered by the Racing Commission. The panel ruled earlier this month that a competing proposal was incomplete since it didn’t have support from the county judge or the quorum court, as required.

The planned casino could still face another obstacle. A group backed by the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma is trying to put a measure on the November ballot that, if approved by voters, could lead to the repeal of the Pope County license. The group faces a July 5 deadline to submit petitions to the state and needs at least 90,704 valid signatures from registered voters to qualify.