Legal Concerns
The Coquille are trying to circumvent the law that has governed Indian gaming for decades, the Indian Gaming and Regulatory Act (IGRA). When it comes to Indian gaming tribes must follow IGRA, which is specific that casinos can only be built on lands in trust as of 1988, unless they are, in pertinent part, part of the initial reservation of the tribe or restored land through federal recognition as determined by Congress through each individual restoration act.
The Coquille Tribe did not have this land in Trust as of 1988 and has no basis to have this land restored.
Specifically the Coquille Casino proposal:
- Circumvents Federal Process under IGRA: The process the Coquille Tribe is pursuing to try to open a second, Class II gaming facility in Medford circumvents the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) two-part process that requires robust local government input and Governor approval. Although 5 tribes have entered tribal-state compacts that ensure the local community will benefit financially from casinos, the Coquille are seeking to avoid any revenue sharing with the Medford community under a tribal-state compact. Under this scenario, if the Coquille’s request is granted, there would be no local or state oversight or revenue benefit whatsoever.
- Violates State Policy: If approved it would be the first Oregon Tribal casino put on land that a Tribe lacks any ancestral connection to. The site the Coquille Tribe is seeking to put into trust has no ancestral ties to the tribe. It is commercial property that has never been in trust, to which the tribe has zero historical connection. Coquille concedes as much by not seeking to game in Medford under either IGRA’s two-part determination exception, which current federal policy requires there to be a significant historic connection to the land, or another “restored lands” exception, which imposes the same requirement.
- Misinterpretation of Restored Land Exception: When it comes to Indian gaming, the tribes must follow IGRA, which dictates that casinos can only be built on lands in trust as of 1988, unless they are part of the initial reservation of the tribe or restored land through federal recognition as determined by Congress through each individual restoration act. Neither of these exceptions apply to Coquille.
- Service Areas are for Services: Coquille already operates a Class III casino on their initial reservation pursuant to the Coquille Restoration Act (CRA), as adopted in 1984. The CRA lists Jackson County and four other Counties as Coquille’s “service area,” but that was for the purposes of providing social services in that region for Coquille members—not for gaming. The Coquille has no ties to the land it wants to build a casino on.
