Tribe to end craps and roulette
11:24 PM 6/04/04
Tom Sheehan Wisconsin State Journal

<

The Ho-Chunk Nation will close down several table games at its casino near Baraboo on June 30 to comply with a state Supreme Court ruling last month. <

The tribe posted a "public notice," notifying employees it will no longer offer craps, roulette, poker or "carnival games," which the court said were illegal, said Ed Littlejohn, a spokesman for the tribe. <

"This ruling overturned the governor's original compact with the Nation allowing these expanded table games," the notice said. <

Tom Springer, a Madison attorney representing the tribe, said the decision will directly affect at least 20 to 30 employees who work poker tables. It wasn't clear if the same notice was posted for employees at the tribe's casinos in Black River Falls and Nekoosa, which operate under the same gambling compact with the state, Springer said. <

The Ho-Chunk Nation is complying with the court decision, but the question of which games are legal is likely to be decided in federal court, Springer said. <

"We really don't think the (state) Supreme Court has the final say in this," Springer said. The tribe has not decided if it will go to federal court, or possibly wait until another tribe does, Springer said. <

The state Supreme Court ruled, among other things, that Gov. Jim Doyle exceeded his authority by approving unending compacts with 10 of the state's 11 tribes that allowed those games. Republican legislative leaders sued the governor last year after he announced a compact agreement with the Forest County Potawatomi tribe, which runs a casino in Milwaukee. <

As part of its compact, the Potawatomi agreed to pay the state $34 million by June 30 of this year and about $43 million next year. But that tribe and others have threatened not to make payments totaling $207 million by June 30, 2005, if the state court decision stands. <

The Ho-Chunk Nation hasn't decided if it will make its $30 million payment due this month, Springer said. <

The Ho-Chunk appear to be making a good-faith effort toward complying with the court's decision, but the case is about state constitutional issues, not federal issues, said Assembly Speaker John Gard, R-Peshtigo, who sued. <

"My guess is they got some advice that would say they don't want to go to federal court to challenge it," Gard said. <

Each tribe in the state likely will make independent decisions about whether to continue offering the table games and making payments to the state, said J.B. Van Hollen, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin in Madison. <

Complying with the state court's decision could help a tribe avoid enforcement efforts, at least on the type of games offered, Van Hollen said. Tribes shouldn't expect to skip payments and continue offering those games, he said. The Doyle administration is trying to renegotiate compacts with each of the tribes, but also believes the question about the expanded games will be decided at the federal level, said Dan Leistikow, a spokesman for Doyle. <

The Oneida Nation, which runs a casino in Green Bay will continue to offer the expanded table games and will make a $20 million payment that's June 30, said Bobbi Webster, a spokeswoman for the tribe. <

"Nothing's changed with us. As we have indicated previously, it's business as usual," Webster said Friday. <

The National Indian Gaming Commission, which has enforcement authority over tribal gaming compacts, is unlikely to get involved while the case is working its way through the courts, a spokesman for the commission said Friday. <

Contact Tom Sheehan at tsheehan@madison.com or 252-6198.