POPE COUNTY, Ark. (KTHV) - The newly elected Russellville Mayor-elect and Pope County Judge-elect will not write a letter of support for a casino to come to Pope County. This means a casino is unlikely in the near future in that area.
With the way Issue 4, the casino amendment, is written, the county judge or quorum court must write a letter of support for a casino. To be in city limits, the mayor must write a letter too. Both newly elected leaders in Pope County expressed that they don't plan to do so.
"I will follow the wishes of the people,” said Ben Cross, Pope County Judge-elect. “The wishes of the people were spoken, in my view, at the November general election.
While the casino amendment passed state-wide, 60 percent of voters in Pope County voted against it, with only 40 percent in favor. That’s why Cross will not write a letter once he is in office.
“My view is to represent those citizens who said they did not want a casino,” Cross said, adding that if the situation were switched and there was support, he would still side with the people, supporting a casino if that is what was wanted.
If a potential casino were to be built within Russellville city limits, the mayor would have to approve. Mayor-elect Richard Harris is strongly opposed to it.
“I have stated that I’m opposed to a casino in Pope County and I will stand by that," Harris said.
Cross has met with a number of hopeful casino operators.
“Because this amendment places so much on the office of county judge, it’s my position that I should become the most informed person on the subject in the county and in doing that, I’m willing and have met with any vendor that wants to come along," Cross said.
Cross and Harris don't take office until January and the current county judge and mayor are not expected to write letters of support as long as they follow the local ordinance that passed. It states that a local election would have to be held before a letter of support could be issued.
Cross expects Issue 4 and especially the local initiative to bring on legal challenges.
“I’ve compared it to the marijuana amendment, we’ve seen legal challenges upon legal challenges,” Cross said.
Cross tells us not to expect to see a local election anytime soon.
“Then it becomes a local problem again and I’m trying to avoid that," Cross said. ‘
Because this casino amendment is now written into the constitution, there's nothing stopping a casino from coming later on in the future if the support is there.
“If we slack off, if we don’t pay attention, if we don’t do our due diligence, we could get a mix of county judge, quorum court members who would support a casino and once that happens, there’s no going back," Harris said.
Pope County and Jefferson County are the only two counties that have the option of bringing in a new casino to the state. In Jefferson County it’s a very different story with the community and leaders eager for a casino there.