Arkansas court ruling paves way for casinos

The Arkansas Supreme Court has ruled in favour of an amendment, which will pave the way for setting up licensed casinos in the state. Specifically, the court upheld Issue 4, the amendment for allowing four casino licenses in the state.

Nate Steel, counsel for Driving Arkansas Forward that lobbies for casino licenses, said that the Supreme Court ruling clears the path for Arkansas voters to add almost US$6 million to the state’s economy and create 6,000 new jobs.

 “We are grateful the Supreme Court upheld the Attorney General’s certification that Issue 4 is clear and understandable to voters. We are confident Arkansas will vote to keep casino entertainment dollars in our state when they cast their ballots on Nov. 6,” said Steel.

The legal challenges were filed in September against the ballot and Chief Justice Dan Kemp, who was in charge of the challenges and later recused from the cases. The lawsuits were trying to get the proposal disqualified from the ballot, even after a major lobbying campaign that managed to get the question on the November election.