Whether it’s to play a few spins on a slot machine, eat dinner, have a few drinks, or try their luck at a hand of blackjack, most citizens in the area have been to a casino in Oregon at least once in their lives. While not as large as properties located on the Las Vegas strip, most casinos in the state of Oregon have all of the makings of a resort destination. What is little known to casino-goers is all of the regulatory red tape that comes along with opening and maintaining a casino, and the conflicting interests between Oregon’s native tribes and the state and federal governments. Gambling is a highly regulated industry. After all, there is a huge potential for fraud and cheating. The pioneer days of gambling in states like Nevada, where organized crime reigned supreme, is a testament to this. For this reason and others, it’s effectively illegal for a private entrepreneur to own and operate their own casino.

Tribal Casinos in Oregon

The country’s native tribes occupy a unique position in the U.S. The tribes are considered to have sovereignty in many respects. They establish their own governments, complete with their own police forces and courts, and their tribal land, and the activities that happen on them, aren’t subject to state laws in the same way that property owned by the rest of the U.S. citizenry is. It’s for this reason that every casino in the state of Oregon, and many states for that matter, is owned by a tribe. As a couple local examples, the Three Rivers Casinos in Florence and Coos Bay are owned by the Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians (CTCLUSI), and the Mill Casino, located in North Bend, is owned by the Coquille tribe.

Tribes and Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA)

While it’s true that native tribal land isn’t subject to the same rules as other land in the state, it is not the case that a tribe can simply open a casino anywhere in the state. There is a differentiation between fee land and trust land. Trust land is land that is held in trust by the federal government for the benefit of the tribe. Fee land is land purchased or acquired by the tribe that is still subject to state laws and regulations. The IGRA stipulates that a tribe can open a casino on propery that was placed in trust prior to October 17, 1988, and that they can do so regardless as to whether or not the state objects to it. That means a tribe can’t simply purchase pieces of property and start opening casinos on them. With limited exceptions, if a tribe wants to open a casino on fee land, they must get permission from the state via a compact. Per the IGRA:

§2719. Gaming on lands acquired after October 17, 1988

(a) Prohibition on lands acquired in trust by Secretary
Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, gaming regulated by this chapter shall not be conducted on lands acquired by the Secretary in trust for the benefit of an Indian tribe after October 17, 1988, unless—
(1) such lands are located within or contiguous to the boundaries of the reservation of the Indian tribe on October 17, 1988; or
(2) the Indian tribe has no reservation on October 17, 1988, and—
(A) such lands are located in Oklahoma and—
(i) are within the boundaries of the Indian tribe’s former reservation, as defined by the Secretary, or
(ii) are contiguous to other land held in trust or restricted status by the United States for the Indian tribe in Oklahoma; or
(B) such lands are located in a State other than Oklahoma and are within the Indian tribe’s last recognized reservation within the State or States within which such Indian tribe is presently located.
(b) Exceptions
(1) Subsection (a) of this section will not apply when—
(A) the Secretary, after consultation with the Indian tribe and appropriate State and local officials, including officials of other nearby Indian tribes, determines that a gaming establishment on newly acquired lands would be in the best interest of the Indian tribe and its members, and would not be detrimental to the surrounding community, but only if the Governor of the State in which the gaming activity is to be conducted concurs in the Secretary’s determination; or
(B) lands are taken into trust as part of—
(i) a settlement of a land claim,
(ii) the initial reservation of an Indian tribe acknowledged by the Secretary under the Federal acknowledgment process, or
(iii) the restoration of lands for an Indian tribe that is restored to Federal recognition.

The Coquille Restoration Act

Another piece of federal legislation pertinent to the discussion is the Coquille Restoration Act. The act, passed by Congress in 1989, re-established the federal government’s responsibility with regards to Indian trust land. The Western Oregon Termination Act, passed in 1954, ended the federal government’s responsibility to hold lands of the Coquille tribe, as well as other tribes, in trust. The Coquille Restoration Act re-codified the feds’ responsibility. It also more clearly defined the lands that are deemed to be the Coquille tribe’s “reservation.”

Many consider an Indian reservation to be a large contiguous parcel of land, wholly owned by a tribe. While many tribal lands are indeed set up that way, the Coquille Restoration Act makes reference to the Coquille tribe’s “service area,” which it defines as Coos, Curry, Douglas, Jackson, and Lane Counties, and it decrees that any members of the tribe living within that area to be living on a reservation.

Class II vs Class III Indian casinos and “bingo machines”

The IGRA places different gaming (gambling) activities into different “classes.” Class I gaming is defined as any gaming activity where the prize is of minimal value where the purpose of the gaming activity is for a celebration or ceremony – a raffle at a holiday celebration in which the tribal member could win something like a household appliance would be considered Class I gaming.

Class II gaming is, technically, limited to the game of bingo. This includes traditional bingo played with a card and dabber, but it also includes electronic forms of bingo. The loose definition of “bingo” has given rise to the creation of a special type of gaming machine known as “bingo machines.” Bingo machines look and act almost identically to slot machines, because, in essence, they are. The difference, however is that when a player “spins” the bingo machine (by pulling the machine’s lever or pushing a button), they are actually playing a game of bingo. The software that controls a bingo machine is specifically designed to electronically represent a game of bingo, but with a slot-machine-like interface for the player to interact with. Is the creation of bingo machines simply a loophole used by the tribes to install slot machines in their Class II casinos? Certainly, though they are considered perfectly legal under the IGRA.

Class III gaming is defined by the IGRA as any gaming other than Class I and Class II. Class III gaming includes traditional slot machines, table games such as blackjack, roulette and craps, as well as sports betting. Class III gaming is prohibited by the IGRA unless the tribe enters into a compact with the state. Class III gaming is subject to regulations by the state, and the state can deny a tribe a compact for class III gaming activities provided the compact is negotiated with the tribe in good faith.

Oregon’s unofficial “one casino per tribe” rule

It’s true that the state could permit the tribes to open casinos all across the state of Oregon, however there is an unofficial rule that stipulates that each tribe will only be allowed one casino to be built on fee land. Why does the state care how many casinos each tribe opens? For a couple of reasons: for one, gambling is considered a vice, and the more casinos that are opened, the more people that are likely to succumb to their gambling addictions, and also because tribal casinos compete directly with the Oregon state lottery. The lottery is one of Oregon’s largest funding sources, second only to income taxes. If tribal casinos were to proliferate, the state would likely see a sizeable decrease in the amount of lottery revenue it brings in, which could create funding gaps that the citizens of the state would have to patch.