Tribe can move forward with
plans to expand its gaming operation in
downtown Kansas City
A lawsuit by the Kansas Attorney General’s office challenging the legality
of a casino in downtown Kansas City, Kan., has been dismissed by a federal
judge, thus clearing the way for the Wyandotte Nation and upgrade and expand
its gaming operation there.
Kansas had argued that the Oklahoma-based Wyandotte Nation
bought the old Masonic
Temple and land for the 7th Street Casino
with federal funds not allowed for that purpose. But U.S. District Judge
Richard D. Rogers ruled that the federal government’s sovereign immunity from
such lawsuits rendered the case moot, and dismissed it without ruling on the
money issue. Unless state officials or three competing tribes that have casinos
appeal the ruling, the lawsuit is dead.
With the case over, the Wyandotte Nation plans
to seek a formal compact with Kansas
under federal law to upgrade its gambling operation, which has 500 Class II
bingo-based slot machines, to include table games and Class III slots. The
tribe spent $20 million refurbishing the temple across the street from City
Hall before opening its casino in January.
Kansas lawsuit against Wyandotte Nation's casino dismissed
November 1, 2008
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