A public hearing will be held Monday morning on the new gambling compact negotiated between the State of South Dakota and the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe for the tribe's gambling casino. The hearing is set for 9 a.m. Monday, Dec. 27, in the board room of the Royal River Casino at Flandreau. Gov. Bill Janklow and Tribal President Tom Ranfranz have reached agreement on the proposed compact.
State law requires that a public hearing be held before the governor signs a new compact.
We've been working together under the language of the current compact for nearly a decade, and both sides agreed there are some improvements that could be made from a legal and a practical standpoint. The casino currently is limited to a total of 250 slot machines, poker tables and blackjack tables. Under federal law, poker doesn't fit the definition of Class III gaming and therefore shouldn't be subject to the compact limit. Consequently, the proposed compact sets the limit at 250 slot machines, with the table games of poker and blackjack outside the limit. Business economics dictate there won't be a significant increase in the number of devices.