In 2018, Arkansas residents voted to allow new casinos to launch throughout the state. The vote saw an amendment added to the state’s constitution that allowed properties to launch in certain areas, including Pope County. However, a casino still remains to be built in the region as legal challenges continue to block the process.
As casinos launch in other regions throughout Arkansas, such as in Pine Bluff, West Memphis and Hot Springs, Pope County has been subject to opposition from anti-gambling groups.
Specifically, Fair Play for Arkansas has filed a petition to the Arkansas secretary of state's office to remove Pope County as a possible location for a casino under Amendment 100 of the Arkansas Constitution.
The group aims to reword the amendment so it specifies only three casinos can be built in the state. It hopes to gain enough signatures on the petition in order to bring the decision to a public vote, which would be retroactive to the 2018 decision.
Speaking on their attempt to overturn the public vote, Larry Walker, a committee spokesman, said in an email: "We are now beginning the effort to gather the needed signatures to place this on the November 2022 ballot.”
This opposition echoes the group's attempts to block the project in 2020.
"When we launched this campaign in June [2020], a federal judge had ruled that signatures could be submitted on petitions without a notarized witness, which would have allowed our volunteer network to operate safely within the limitations of the pandemic," said committee spokesman Hans Stiritz last year.
Pope County has also been debating about the potential ownership of any casino project, with Gulfside Casino Partnership and the Cherokee Nation both suggesting the licence should belong to them.
