Iowa will sue to stop Ponca Tribe’s Carter Lake casino

DES MOINES - Iowa’s attorney general will file suit in federal court to stop the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska from building a casino in Carter Lake, Iowa. The tribe announced last month they will build an Indian casino at Carter Lake, which is located on the Nebraska side of the Missouri River, northeast of Omaha.

Last December the National Indian Gaming Commission ruled that gambling can operate on that land under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. However, the attorney general’s lawsuit will claim the Ponca Tribe does not have authority under federal law to use the land for a casino.

"The Ponca tribe previously had represented to the state of Iowa that their Carter Lake trust lands did not qualify as gaming-eligible restored lands," according to a statement issued jointly by Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, Governor Chet Culver, and Dean Lerner, Director of Iowa's inspections and appeals department.

Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning has previously filed a lawsuit in the federal court in Iowa caliming the casino will border Nebraska and Nebraska law does not allow casinos.

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