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.1
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Article 5 of the state constitution says that measures, including constitutional amendments, can be amended or repealed by a two-thirds vote of the legislature.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.
- February 16, 2019. Johnson County JPs OK Casino Resolution. The Courier.
- March 30, 2019. Bill Pitched for Alternate Sites for Casino Falls in House Vote. Arkansas Online.
- Arkansas Game and Fish Commission v. Edgmon, 218 Ark. 207 (Ark. 1951)
- February 11, 2019. Senator Ronald Caldwell letter to Johnson County Judge Herman Houston