Attorney General Scott Pruitt: Kialegee officials argue that they have sovereign immunity against the state's lawsuit, a contention Pruitt disputes.
DENVER - The fight over a planned Broken Arrow casino continues in a federal appeals court.
Kialegee tribal officials are asking the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn a court order that last year halted the casino's construction.
Judge Gregory Frizzell of the Tulsa-based U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma issued the preliminary injunction at the request of Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, who said the planned Red Clay Casino was illegal.
Both sides recently submitted written arguments to the Denver-based 10th Circuit court and asked judges to hear oral arguments.
The 10th Circuit court is not expected to decide the appeal until later this year or next year.
Kialegee tribal officials and Florence Development Partners, a company trying to develop the casino for the tribe, want the appeals court to dissolve the injunction and to throw out the state's lawsuit against them.
The state wants the higher court to affirm Frizzell's decision.
Construction of the casino was under way at the southwest corner of 129th East Avenue and 111th Street East when Frizzell stopped it May 18.
He concluded that the Kialegee officials did not have jurisdiction over the site and were not legally authorized to operate the planned casino.
Pruitt acted under the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act and a gaming compact between the state and the Kialegee Tribal Town, a federally recognized Indian tribe that he says is based in Wetumka.
Frizzell, saying the Kialegees do not have "Indian lands," agreed with the state.
"When the casino project was launched, there was no exercise of Kialegee Tribal Town authority and governmental control," the judge said. "After it started, they fenced the property, flew a flag on a residential garage and established a satellite office in that house."
That was not sufficient to show that the Kialegee Tribal Town had established its "exercise of governmental power" over the land, Frizzell said.
Kialegee officials argue that they have sovereign immunity against the lawsuit, a contention Pruitt disputes.
The property is owned by Marcella Giles and her sister Wynema Capps, members of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation.
After Frizzell ordered construction stopped, Kialegee officials enrolled Capps and Giles as members of the Kialegee tribe, Pruitt states in his brief.
Historically, Creek Indians, including the Kialegee, "were a collection of autonomous tribal towns," and Frizzell concluded that the Kialegee are a subset of the Creek Nation, the Kialegee officials state.
"The (Kialegee) claimed right to operate the casino was based on a convoluted series of leases that never received required federal or state approvals," the attorney general states.
In addition to claiming immunity, Kialegee and Florence officials contend that the state doesn't have standing to sue, a contention also disputed by Pruitt.
The 10th Circuit court is not expected to decide the appeal until later this year or next year.
Original Print Headline: Lines drawn in casino battle
