PHOENIX — A federal judge has rejected much of the effort by the state to force the Tohono O’odham Nation to produce more documents in Arizona’s fight to stop the tribe from opening a new casino near Glendale.
In a broad-based order, U.S. District Court Judge David Campbell rejected several demands by the Attorney General’s Office for more disclosure from the tribe. The judge said some of the state’s requests were overly broad, while others were “overly burdensome.”
But the judge said the state is entitled to some information the tribe did not want to give up, including audited financial statements and estimates of what the Tohono O’odham could earn from the project if casino-style gaming is prohibited.
The effort by the state to demand more documents comes as the tribe has asked Campbell to rule that Arizona has no legal right to block it from opening its proposed casino as scheduled later this year.
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Attorneys for the state insist they need the information for a hearing set for September. But Campbell said much of what the state insists it needs is unnecessary, at least at this point.
Campbell has previously sided with the tribe in multiple lawsuits designed to kill the project.
Now, state Gaming Director Daniel Bergin, at the behest of Gov. Doug Ducey, is trying a new tactic to stop the casino: Claim that the tribe engaged in fraud in 2002 when the state and officials from tribes around the state negotiated the terms of a deal that gives tribes exclusive right to operate casinos in exchange for a share of the revenues.
Bergin contends the O’odham are guilty of fraud because they never disclosed during negotiations that they were interested in opening a casino far from their traditional reservation even as they were looking to purchase land near Glendale. He said that makes the tribe legally unfit to conduct gaming operations.
The tribe sued last month, asking Campbell to declare the state’s latest action illegal. The state has responded by demanding more information.
For example, one request seeks supporting documentation for the assertion that 40 percent of those who would be employed at the casino and associated resort would be Native American, with three-quarters of those being members of the Tohono O’odham Nation. The tribe responded with its own reports of expected hiring and data about tribal members at other casinos.
Campbell said that was sufficient and rejected the state’s demand for more.
“If taken literally, (it could) require plaintiff to search a vast array of documents concerning tribal employment patters generally and employment details at other casinos,” the judge wrote.
The judge was no more inclined to force the tribe to produce all documents and studies about impacts the casino will have on Maricopa County.
“Read literally, it would call for thousands of documents that relate in any way to impacts the casino could have on surrounding lands, businesses, cities, safety, infrastructure, the environment, etc.,” Campbell wrote.
The tribe has produced non-privileged reports prepared by outside consultants projecting income and expenses for the project, going back to 2009 when plans were first announced. And tribal lawyers pointed out that the Department of Gaming has public reports showing that casinos in Arizona generated more than $1.8 billion a year, or more than $75 million per casino on average.
But Campbell did order the tribe to produce any estimates it has of what will happen if he rules it cannot operate casino-style gaming on the site. That would limit it to things like bingo, which the state cannot halt.
On Twitter: @azcapmedia
On Twitter: @azcapmedia
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