Arkansas Times July 18, 2019
At a meeting on Wednesday morning, the Arkansas Racing Commission delayed a decision on the appeal of Gulfside Casino Partnership, whose application to build a casino in Pope County was rejected by the Commission in June, along with those of four other applicants, because none of the applicants had letters of support from current government officials.
Gulfside’s application, submitted on May 17, included letters of endorsement from Jim Gibson, the previous county judge of Pope County, and Randy Horton, the previous mayor of Russellville. Both letters were issued at the end of December, shortly before the officials left office. But earlier this year, the commission ruled that the endorsements must come from officials who were in office at the time a casino’s application was submitted. Casey Castleberry, an attorney for Gulfside, said this ruling is unconstitutional because this requirement was not included in the constitutional amendment approved by voters statewide in November. (read more at Arkansas Times)