Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt has asked to join a federal lawsuit aimed at blocking a new casino in Park City.
In July, the Wyandotte Nation filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to compel Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar to approve the tribe’s application to place land in Park City into trust. That would allow them to build a casino.
If approved, the motion to intervene filed by the Attorney General’s Office would allow the State of Kansas to join in the lawsuit and take part in the effort to block the plan.
“The State contends that the federal government’s land trust obligations to the Wyandotte Nation were fulfilled by the tribe’s facility in Kansas City, Kan.,” Schmidt said in a press release. “We have petitioned the court to allow Kansas to join in this case to ensure the State’s sovereign interests are protected.”
The state also contends that the Secretary of the Interior has no lawful authority to grant such an application. The filing seeks a court order to prohibit the Secretary of the Interior from being able to do so permanently.
