Good Faith Compact Negotiations in South Dakota?

South Dakota's unwillingness to negotiate additional slot machines in tribal casinos has been challenged in federal court as violating the state's duty to negotiate in good faith under IGRA.

The Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe, which owns the Royal River Casino and Hotel, filed a lawsuit in federal court accusing Governor Mike Rounds of bad faith for his refusal to consider additional slot machines at Royal River.

According to this recent article in Indian Country Today, commercial casinos in Deadwood operate more than 3,000 slot machines while tribal casinos, operated by eight tribes in the state, have 2,000 gaming devices. Additionally, there are more than 8,000 video lottery machines in small commercial casinos across the state. Indian Country Today reports that during a Western governors' conference held two years ago, "Rounds allegedly told the other governors that as long as the state had video lottery with millions of dollars in revenue, the tribes would not be allowed to have more slot machines."