Like roulette

Where casino clash stops, nobody knows

Could the drama of Pope County’s future as a casino destination — or not — be resolved in 2024? It’s been more than five years since Arkansas voters approved Amendment 100 to the state constitution allowing for casino gambling in Arkansas. It seems like it’s been longer, as three of the locations authorized to have casinos have been raking in the bets without too much trouble. Those sites are in Garland, Crittenden and Jefferson counties.

Nobody really asked Pope County residents whether they wanted to be included as a site for that 2018 amendment. The interests pushing the amendment had their reasons for the location — probably tapping the right market without getting too close to Oklahoma’s gaming interest to provoke a major resistance from the west.

In any case, it’s been a big fight in Pope County as to whether the people there want casino gaming. And it has been a big fight among gambling interests as to who might be licensed to operate a casino there if one is ever allowed.

Now, all the legal battles have led to the Arkansas Racing Commission’s most recent step toward authorizing a casino operation in Pope County. A new application period is underway and will continue through June 11. Two companies have been vying over the license for years amid lawsuits and questions over who gets to influence the final decisions. We’re sure the new application process will provide some new answers, but it’d be a shock if it didn’t create new questions, too.

Meanwhile, some Pope County residents are pursuing signatures for their efforts to get a new measure on the November ballot. That proposal would repeal the racing commission’s authority to issue a casino license in Pope County and require local voter approval in a countywide special election for any new casino license in any county beyond the three already licensed to have one.

Those folks are the process of collecting 90,704 signatures from registered Arkansas voters in 50 counties by July 5. It’s a tall order. But if they manage it, it’s hard to know exactly how the commission’s process and any award of a casino license will be affected.

Should local voters have a say in whether the rest of the state decides to plunk a casino in the midst of their community? It’s not a necessity, but it sure seems fair to ask the question since the impacts of having casino gambling, both good and not so good, will be most directly felt by the people who live there.

We’d like to hope that poor ol’ Pope County would sooner rather than later be able to have this issue resolved. It’s been looming over residents and businesses there for far too long. Having something like this unsettled isn’t good for the community and, ultimately, not good for the state.

But given the history of Pope County’s casino, we’re not willing to bet anything on a quick and final resolution.