Tribe files second suit to get casino

Wednesday, June 15, 2005 | 9:52 a.m.

BATON ROUGE, La. -- The Jena Band of Choctaw Indians has filed a second lawsuit in an attempt to get a reservation casino in Louisiana.

The 251-member tribe wants to have a gambling hall in Grant Parish in central Louisiana, a plan that Gov. Kathleen Blanco is opposing. The tribe sued in state district court in LaSalle Parish and followed that up with a federal court suit filed in Baton Rouge.

The state lawsuit was filed over Blanco's refusal early in 2004 to negotiate a compact for a casino that would have been located in Logansport, close to the Texas border and near the lucrative state-licensed casino market of Shreveport-Bossier City.

The federal lawsuit concerns the Jena Choctaws' latest proposal that would put a casino Grant Parish.

Three other tribes have casinos in Louisiana.

The Jena Choctaws, in the federal suit, want a court finding that the state has failed to negotiate in good faith and an order compelling the governor to conclude negotiations for a casino in Grant Parish within 60 days.

The state attorney general's office is reviewing the suit, said agency spokeswoman Kris Wartelle. But Wartelle said Attorney General Charles Foti already has promised to contest the state court lawsuit and will do the same with the federal suit.

Blanco has opposed the construction of a new casino, saying she doesn't believe expanding gambling is in the best interest of Louisiana.

An attorney for the Jena Choctaws, Julie Wilkerson, said the tribe plans to move ahead with a casino with video poker and poker matches in Grant Parish. Such a casino does not require a compact with the state, she said.