Arizona governor barred from approving gambling compacts

Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2001 | 11:05 a.m.

PHOENIX -- A federal judge on Tuesday barred Gov. Jane Hull from approving any future gambling compacts with the state's Indian tribes.

U.S. District Judge Robert C. Broomfield also set a June 1 deadline for the state to notify tribes with compacts that the agreements permitting gambling on their reservations won't be renewed.

The ruling won't invalidate the existing 17 compacts. Officials, however, declined to speculate on how future gambling agreements will be handled and who will approve them.

Broomfield's order enforces his July 3 ruling that Hull doesn't have authority under state law to enter new compacts.

The ruling came in a lawsuit against the state by three Phoenix-area race tracks, which argued that Arizona's 19 tribal casinos operate illegally and wanted to block new compacts.

Hull promised to appeal the ruling.

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