In response to a letter from Sen. Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d’Alene, and signed by three other North Idaho state representatives, questioning the legality of Indian gaming in Idaho, state Lottery Director Jeff Anderson has responded with a letter outlining why Idaho Indian tribes’ gaming machines in use in their reservation casinos are clearly legal under both Idaho and federal law, and the state is enjoined by a 9^th Circuit court decision from challenging them. Among the laws defining and legalizing the tribes’ machines are an initiative approved by Idaho voters in 2002; state laws passed in 2003; a gaming compact amendment approved by the Indian Gaming Regulatory Commission and the U.S. Secretary of the Interior in 2002; and a finding by the 9^th Circuit.

In 2006, in Idaho v. Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, the federal court of appeals ruled that further litigation between the state and Idaho tribes over tribal video gaming machines and whether they violate the Idaho Constitution was barred and the question was settled. “I am constrained to follow those statutes in my capacity as Lottery Director,” Anderson wrote. “I assure you the Lottery takes its responsibility to monitor tribal gaming compacts seriously.”  You can read his full response letter here.