A special circuit court judge could decide
Friday if the Catawba Indian Nation will have a video poker operation on
its York County reservation, the tribe's attorney said Tuesday.
The Catawbas are entitled to offer a gambling enterprise on their
tribal property granted to them through a 1993 land claim agreement with
the state, said tribal attorney Jay Bender. The tribe claims the
agreement gives them the exclusive right to operate video poker
regardless of state law.
"The settlement agreement says the tribe can have video poker on its
reservation as long as it's operated by the tribe," Bender said. "If the
reservation is located in a state or county which prohibits the
activity, the tribe nonetheless must be permitted to operate."
Tribal officials will ask master-in-equity Judge Joseph M. Strickland
to decipher the state statute Friday and rule on the tribe's claim to
legally operate video poker on the York county-based reservation, Bender
said.
"This hearing could dispose of the case," Bender said. "We want to
know: What does the language of the settlement agreement with the state
mean?" Bender said.
Some state and local officials argue the tribe's plan for an
electronic gaming operation on the reservation is a direct violation of
a state law that banned video poker in 2000.
S.C. Attorney General Henry McMaster opposes the return of any form
of gambling to the state, said spokesman Trey Walker.
"Attorney General McMaster feels the law is very clear," Walker said.
"Video poker is illegal everywhere in South Carolina, and that includes
the Catawba reservation. We have been successful in arguing that point
in federal court and expect to be successful in state court."
The Catawbas filed their state lawsuit in July claiming the tribe has
the right to video poker on its reservation because the state's
education lottery, which began in 2001, has hurt its bingo business in
Rock Hill. The Catawbas filed a similar lawsuit in federal court in May
2004. It was dismissed earlier this year.
In 1993, the Catawbas were recognized as a limited-sovereign Indian
nation and settled a land claim suit over 144,000 acres seized in 1840
by agreeing to a York County reservation and two bingo sites. The Cherry
Road Catawba Bingo hall opened in 1997.
"Fortunately, the tribe has been able to prevail in court when it
counts," Bender said. "The tribe is confident it will prevail again."
The case will be heard 2 p.m. Friday in the Richland County Judicial
Center.
Denyse C. Middleton • 329-4069
dmiddleton@heraldonline.com
