Ho-Chunk will cease high-stakes gambling

0 Comments | La Crosse Tribune, Jun 05, 2004 | by Sheehan, Tom

MADISON - The Ho-Chunk Nation will shut down its highstakes games at its casino near Baraboo on June 30 to comply with a state Supreme Court ruling last month, tribal officials said Friday.

The tribe posted a public notice Friday telling employees it will no longer offer craps, roulette, poker or "carnival games," which the court said were illegal, said Ed Littlejohn, a spokesman for the tribe.

"This ruling overturned the governor's original compact with the Nation allowing these expanded table games," the further comment after releasing a copy of the notice.

Tom Springer, a Madison attorney representing the tribe, said the decision will directly affect at least 20 to 30 employees who work poker tables. It wasn't clear whether the same notice was posted for employees at the tribe's casinos in Black River Falls and Nekoosa, which operate under the same gaming compact with the state, Springer said.

The Ho-Chunk Nation is complying with the court decision, but the question of which games are legal is likely to be decided in federal court, Springer said.

"We really don't think the (state) Supreme Court has the final say in this," Springer said. The tribe has not decided whether it will go to federal court or wait until another tribe does, Springer said.

The state Supreme Court ruled, among other things, that Gov. Jim Doyle exceeded his authority by approving unending compacts with 10 of the state's 11 tribes that allowed the high-stakes games.

Republican legislative leaders sued the governor last year after he announced a compact agreement with the Forest County Potawatomi tribe, which runs a casino in Milwaukee.

As part of its compact, the Potawatomi agreed to pay the state $34 million by June 30 this year and about $43 million next year. But that tribe and others have threatened not to make payments totaling $207 million by June 30, 2005, if the state court decision stands.

The Ho-Chunk Nation hasn't decided whether it will make its $30 million payment due this month, Springer said.

Each tribe in the state likely will make independent decisions about whether to continue offering high-stakes games and making payments to the state, said J.B. Van Hollen, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin in Madison