Mississippi Gambling

Saturday, November 03,
2007By veto F. ROLEY

The Mississippi River Press

PASCAGOULA -- Attorneys for the Seashore Businesses for Fair
Play filed a ailment with the Mississippi River Secretary of
State's business office Thursday alleging that the
Jackson-Choctaw Partnership have violated state laws by not
registering with the state.

Friday, Secretary of State Eric William Clark forwarded the
complaint to Lawyer General Jim Hood.

"It is asserted that the grouping have purchased
billboards, telecasting ads and direct mailings in
favor of the ballot measure," reads the missive from
Clark to Hood. "If this information turns out to be
accurate, the outgoes would obviously transcend the
threshold bounds of $200, requiring the grouping to register a
Statement of Organization no future than 10 years after its
first part or outgo in extra of $200."

Clark's missive travels on to state that "if the
allegations ... turn out to be correct, the Jackson-Choctaw
Partnership would be a political commission and subject to
the Mississippi River Political Campaign Finance Disclosure law. Because of
this, I would bespeak that your staff immediately
investigate this substance and help us in ensuring that this
entity complies with all demands of the law."

Secretary of State spokesman Kel Ian Smith said late Friday that
the Secretary of State's business office have not received any
documentation from the Jackson-Choctaw Partnership.

He said the office's criterion process is to send
complaints to the lawyer general's business business office for
investigation.

As for whether the Mississippi River River Set of Choctaws, which is an
independent state as a recognized folk by the federal
government, have to register with the Secretary of State's
office or the Glenda Jackson County Circuit Clerk, Ian Smith said,
"That is for the lawyer full general to decide."

Stacey Powell, interpreter for the Jackson-Choctaw
Partnership, said the tribe, which is located near
Philadelphia, Miss., have been active in Mississippi politics
for 45 years.

"We have got got never had a ailment against us and never
have we filed," she said. "This is a last minute
attempt by Stan Flint to mistake the election."

Powell said the Jackson-Choctaw Partnership would publish a
statement about the ailment once it have clip to examine
the specifics.

Attorney Dan M. McDaniel said Seashore Businesses for Carnival Play
has known the Jackson-Choctaw Partnership have not filed with
the Secretary of State's business office for some time.

"There is no clip scheme involved," McDaniel
said Friday. "We did a batch of legal research into the
issue and wanted to do certain we had the facts
correct."

One of the issues involved is whether the Choctaws have got to
file with the state.

"They may not have got to stay with state law,"
McDaniel said. "They don't have got to stay by most
state laws."

However, McDaniel said the Choctaw's partnership with
Mississippi citizens and concerns in the Jackson-Choctaw
Partnership could take their sovereignty from the
question.

"This corroborates once again our worst fearfulnesses about an
untaxed, unregulated gambling casino being forced on Jackson
County," Flint wrote in a news release. "The
people of Glenda Jackson County have got a right to cognize who is
spending a million dollars to jostle this unwanted tribal
casino down our throat. The folk have ignored the state laws
that necessitate full populace revelation even though they are
clearly required to file."

The Mississippi River Set of Choctaws desire to construct a $375
million gambling casino on land it have in the county. The 100 acres
is located north of the Sunplex Industrial Park and the
Ocean Springs metropolis bounds and south of Ocean Springs Road.

Most of the land proposed for the gambling casino is already
reservation land, and legally outside Glenda Jackson County
borders, being acquired by the Choctaws in the late 1980s.

The gambling casino would have got more than than 2,300 slot machines and a
400-seat buffet. The hotel portion of the gambling casino would feature
1,100 rooms, theater, inside and out-of-door pools, and a
fitness center. Developers also suggest 240,000 foursquare feet
of retail space and, eventually, a 27-hole golf game course.

Jackson County electors last considered gambling in a 1990
binding referendum. In that vote, 15,351 voters, or just
over 60 percentage of the figure casting a ballot, voted
against gambling at that time.

Reporter Veto F. Roley can be reached at
vroley@themississippipress.com Oregon (228) 934-1427.