Saracen Hires

Shortly before opening in spring 2020, Saracen Casino Resort will hire about 1,100 PERMANENT employees. That's more than ANO.

Facebook post

Saracen Casino Resort in Pine Bluff gets license approval from Arkansas Racing Commission

Interesting video from last month (for a successful application):

Facebook post

Substantial Resort-Style Tourist Attractions

Economic transformation

Arkansans have decided to keep the jobs and tax revenues associated with casino gaming within the state...In an April 26, 2019, Yogonet article, Hard Rock and Warner Gaming join forces to obtain a casino license in Arkansas, just before the opening of the May 2019 application window for Arkansas casino license, Bill Warner talked about the proposal for “a new fully-integrated resort with casino gaming for Pope County.” The proposed prospect was to be a partnership between Warner Gaming and Hard Rock.

“We aim to deliver to Pope County a facility that will attract visitors throughout the region and beyond,” Bill Warner, the company’s owner and CEO said. “With its truly global reach, the Hard Rock brand will help us do that.”

“Arkansans have decided to keep the jobs and tax revenues associated with casino gaming within the state, and we are excited for the opportunity to be a part of that,” Warner said. “In the coming weeks, we will continue our discussions with Pope County residents so that we can get a feel for what the community would like to see in a project like this. Our past experience has taught us that community input and involvement is critical to our success.”

“The Hard Rock brand is one of the most recognizable in the world. We are pleased with the opportunity to bring the Hard Rock brand to Arkansas and continue our relationship with the Warner Gaming team,” said Jon Lucas, chief operating officer of Hard Rock International.

Opposition during early 2018 voting.

During the general election early voting, an October 29, 2018, KARK article,  Faith Leaders, Lawmakers Oppose Arkansas Casino Amendment, discussed both sides of Issue 4, the initiative that became Amendment 100 after passing.

(Representative Vivien) Flowers said she has not been able to reach a deal with the leader of the tribe.

“No local partnerships with the effected cities have been publicly committed to or announced,” she said. “This is not a good deal for Arkansas.”

“We could all vote against Issue 4 and at the end of the day, we’ll be vastly outnumbered by people in northwest Arkansas and central Arkansas. We’ll have to do their bidding,” said Anna Stiritz, a lifetime resident of Russellville.

The constitutional amendment requires applicants for a casino license to submit a letter of support from the county judge and mayor if the facility is within city limits.

Pope County voters will also consider a proposed ordinance that would require a local election to get permission from voters before officials gave their support.

But if Arkansas voters pass Issue 4, (Vivien) Flowers does not believe the city ordinance would hold up in court.

“An amendment to our Constitution is very hard and very expensive to reach for a reason,” she said. “If it passes, it will likely never be amended again or for a very long time.”

Write the letter, Judge!

Facebook post

Casino move to different county?

In February, the Johnson County Quorum Court passed a resolution by a vote of 7 to 4 supporting efforts to amend the Arkansas Constitution to issue a casino license in Johnson County.

In March, Arkansas House Bill 1563, which would have tweaked the provisions of The Arkansas Casino Gaming Amendment of 2018 to allow one of the four casino licenses to go either Pope, Johnson or Conway County, went to the floor for a vote.  The vote failed by a vote of 47 to 22 in the 100-member House.2

Article 5 of the state constitution says that measures, including constitutional amendments, can be amended or repealed by a two-thirds vote of the legislature.  A 1951 Arkansas Supreme Court ruling says otherwise on legislative alteration of constitutional amendments.

According to Senator Ronald Caldwell, Chair of the Senate Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs, “It is currently settled law in Arkansas that only a vote of the people may amend the Constitution. The Supreme Court long ago made it clear that the Legislature cannot do so, even with a two-thirds vote3 …. Every few years, various special interests have sought to persuade legislators that this case should be ignored or challenged. There has been no appetite to do so. It did not change during decades of litigation over school funding. It did change when controversial issues with the highway department, higher education, tort reform, the Arkansas scholarship lottery, term limits, or even casinos arose over the years. i wish to inform you that it is my position that the General Assembly does not have the power to amend the Constitution and should not seek to claw away that power from the voters by passing an amendment to Amendment 100 (or any other Amendments to the 1874 Constitution) with the intent of creating an issue for the Supreme Court.”4

Since the location for the fourth casino is now stipulated as Pope County in the Arkansas Constitution, it is unlikely that any change to that will be made any time soon.  It appears that it would require another constitutional amendment passed by the voters.  Any measure passing the legislature to amend the constitution would likely be challenged in court.


  1. February 16, 2019. Johnson County JPs OK Casino Resolution. The Courier.
  2. March 30, 2019. Bill Pitched for Alternate Sites for Casino Falls in House Vote. Arkansas Online.
  3. Arkansas Game and Fish Commission v. Edgmon, 218 Ark. 207 (Ark. 1951)
  4. February 11, 2019. Senator Ronald Caldwell letter to Johnson County Judge Herman Houston

Resorts, not metal buildings with slots

Even the earliest version of what became Issue 4 and then Amendment 100 was foreseeing resorts, not metal buildings with slots. From January 8, 2018:

“We’re not talking about some roadside slot machine type place. This is going to be a resort. We expect they would bring convention centers, tourism dollars and a huge shot in the arm to the Arkansas Highway Trust Fund,” said Nate Steel, attorney representing ‘Driving Arkansas Forward.’

#writetheletter #themoreyouknowthemoreyougrow

Jim Ed Gibson’s letter.

Here’s a gem I just came across:

Jim Ed Gibson’s one-sentence letter was never intended to be the required letter of support, as reported in a River Valley Now interview on December 31, 2018.

Funny that that is what Gulfside’s appeal hinges on.

Attorney General and the casino ballot.

Before she granted approval of the 2018 ballot measure, Leslie Rutledge had rejected 69 similar proposals, while approving none.

“I knew it could be hard to get a measure approved, but had no idea how many casino applications had been rejected. A measure has to be approved by the AG before a petition can started collecting signatures” July 24, 2019 Facebook post

KF replied: “This has actually changed since last election cycle. Ballot title no longer goes to AG for approval. To avoid getting off in the weeds with details, basically now it’s filed with Sec of State then after signature confirmation it goes to the election commission for final approval of title language. Rutledge wasn’t a big fan of being court ordered to put issues on the ballot. The legislature let her off the hook this last session.”

KF, “Also, just for clarification, she wasn’t rejecting any casino applications. She was rejecting some of the language in the ballot amendment.”


Originally posted on Facebook