New compact for the Jamestown S’kallam

The state of Washington and the Jamestown S’Kallam tribe have reached tentative agreement of a new tribal compact, tribe officials say.

US.- The original tribal compact was signed in 1993 and will now be replaced with a new one that has been developed to streamline and modernise regulation and its practices in addition to a search of transparency, as it aims to clarify each organisation’s role whilst doing it.

The provision of a Class III table gaming licence can be included among the main changes that the new agreement brings to the table. This allows the tribe to operate a higher amount of games in its casino and automatic state authorisation -in case it’s needed- of any proposal by the tribe to build a second casino on tribal land.

The tribe has agreed to improve cooperation with the state in order to fight problem gambling and will sign a memorandum of understanding with the state which will be used to define financial penalties to be payed by themselves or their employees in case there are any regulatory breaches. The compact also prevents people with fraud or theft convictions to be employed by the casino. In order to improve control over this, employees will be subject to major background checks and other security measures.

The state will also have its officials to review the tribe’s gaming operations yearly, plus all manufacturers, suppliers and financiers with links to the casino must be licensed by the tribe and certified by the state.

The new compact that has been agreed on is yet to be sent to the House of Representatives and the Senate for approval. It will then be debated at a public hearing on July 13 and, if all parties agree, it will then be enforced.