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Catawbas' case gets stronger: McMaster warns S.C. could lose in court; legislative push for bingo to begin

Armed with a state attorney general's opinion issued Monday, state Sen. Brad Hutto is preparing to introduce legislation Tuesday or Wednesday on behalf of the Catawba Indian Nation.

Hutto, a Democrat from Orangeburg, said the legislation would head off a threatened lawsuit by the Catawbas that several experts, including Attorney General Henry McMaster, fear the state would lose.

"The Catawbas have a serious claim," McMaster wrote in warning that the state could lose a challenge if the tribe goes forward with video poker operations in Rock Hill. The Catawbas contend they have that right under a 1993 land agreement with the state because video poker was legal at the time.

Hutto said the Catawbas are willing to renounce their claim to the right to operate video poker in York County in exchange for legislation allowing the tribe to open a high-stakes electronic bingo hall in Santee.

Orangeburg County and Santee town officials, by and large, support the Catawbas' proposal, seeing it as an economic boon that potentially could create a thousand jobs and spin-off business opportunities.

Now the proposal has gotten a powerful ally: State Sen. Glenn McConnell, a Republican from Charleston who is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

In an interview Monday evening, McConnell said he had not yet seen the opinion, which the attorney general issued at the request of McConnell; Rep. Jim Harrison, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee; and members of the York County Legislative Delegation.

But McConnell said he understands its findings are essentially the same as two earlier opinions.

One was written by constitutional law expert Wallace Lightsey, who had been commissioned by the South Carolina Policy Council, which opposes the Catawbas' request.

The other was written by staff attorneys for the Senate Judiciary Committee. It was requested by Hutto, who supports the Santee bingo hall.

McConnell said the attorney general's findings make him nervous. "We may have more vulnerability with this than we feel comfortable with," the Charleston senator said.

"We ought to try to settle this matter out of court if we can, and ultimately save the taxpayers a lot of litigation costs," he said.

Not only that, but "if we go to court, they possibly could get a lot more than just video bingo," McConnell said. "Courts tend to side with Indian rights, so it clearly indicates to me we ought to settle the matter."

He was asked about a fourth legal opinion, in which Columbia attorney Richard Gergel came to the opposite conclusion, saying the Catawbas could not prove their claim to a legal right to operate video poker in York County.

"I'm not minimizing Mr. Gergel, but I would tend to believe there's enough risk there" if three other lawyers think otherwise. "Why should the state take (the risk) if it can settle it?"

McConnell said the ideal solution would be to "close out that window of video poker" and let the Catawbas open their high-stakes bingo hall in a location "where it's wanted."

"It's a win-win for everybody," McConnell said.

Hutto echoed those words in a separate interview. "It's a win-win for both counties," he said. "We've got an opportunity to create more than 1,000 jobs in Orangeburg County."

Hutto said the Catawbas won't offer video poker or any other electronic games except bingo, and no other entity -- Native American or otherwise -- will offer anything similar.

He explained that the state's settlement of the Catawbas' land claim gave the tribe the right to operate two bingo halls, one in York County and one in a location of their choosing.

After getting the cold shoulder in the greater Myrtle Beach area, the tribe -- at the encouragement of 6th District U.S. Rep. James Clyburn -- looked at the economically depressed Interstate 95 corridor.

When they got to Santee, they liked what they saw -- established motels and restaurants, recreational facilities and a slowly withering factory outlet shopping center in need of revitalization.

Since the state launched the South Carolina Educational Lottery and became the Catawbas' biggest competitors in the gaming business, the tribe has seen revenues plummet at its traditional bingo hall in Rock Hill.

They say the only way they can make money is, as Hutto put it, "to move bingo into the electronic age."

That means replacing the traditional callers, paper cards and ink daubers with high-tech computer terminals connected to other Native American bingo halls in other states, tribal officials have said.

First they asked the U.S. Congress to include them under the auspices of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, but Gov. Mark Sanford reportedly acted to halt that initiative, saying the Santee bingo hall needs to be regulated at the state level.

Since then, tribal officials have been keeping in touch with friends in the Legislature, and working behind the scenes to change the minds of skeptics.

But the time for talk is over. "We want to persuade our colleagues it's time to move forward with the legislation," Hutto said. "Unless it's dealt with by the Legislature, it's going to end up in the courts, where there is a likelihood the Catawbas are going to win."

"A legislative settlement is so much quicker and you don't incur the delay or the court costs. It could save the state millions of dollars in legal fees."

T&D Staff Writer Lee Hendren can be reached by e-mail at lhendren@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5552.