08:03 AM EST on Thursday, January 15, 2004

Associated Press

SANTEE, S.C. -- The Catawba Indian Nation has negotiated more time to buy land for a proposed high-stakes, electronic bingo gaming hall here.

The option, originally due to expire Thursday, has been extended to Sept. 15, said Terry Collier, chairman and chief executive of Southern Property Management, which is working with the tribe.

A 1993 settlement of a land claim gives the Catawbas the right to establish two bingo halls. The Catawbas have said the state's limits on jackpot sizes and operating hours have limited the profitability of their first bingo operation in Rock Hill.

The Catawbas wanted the proposed Santee operation placed under the governance of the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, which would allow larger jackpots and longer hours of operation.

But Collier said the tribe has all but given up on the U.S. Congress placing the Santee facility under the federal rules.

"The Catawbas have been nervous about" further state regulation, Collier said, nothing the state lottery has become the tribe's biggest competitor.

Gov. Mark Sanford prefers that the issue be handled at the state level, and that is the direction the tribe is moving, Collier said.

Tribal officials met with Orangeburg County's legislative delegation Tuesday.

"The governor said the matter should be addressed by the General Assembly so we are attempting to do that," Sen. Brad Hutto, D-Orangeburg, said.

A draft proposal would allow the Catawbas to open the bingo facility in Santee under state rules that would be similar to federal Class 2 gaming, Hutto said.

Defining the rules in state law is a safeguard because Congress could always change the (federal) rules and move it from a bingo facility to some other type the state might oppose, he said.

The state bill "will clarify that video poker is not allowed anywhere on tribal land, which is something the legislators in the Rock Hill area have requested," Hutto said.

Hutto hopes to reach agreement with York County lawmakers and get the bill moving within a month.

A state law similar to the federal rules would limit the format to bingo but allow electronic machines to be interconnected among several Native American gaming facilities in other states.

Collier echoed other tribal officials' comments that the Catawbas are not seeking authority for Class 3 gaming, which could include slot machines and the type of gaming the Cherokees offer in North Carolina.

Collier said the tribe does not want to exercise what it says is its right to offer video poker in Rock Hill if they can offer high-stakes electronic bingo in Santee.

That assertion has been endorsed by attorneys for Senate Judiciary Committee.

The opinion, written at Hutto's request, said the settlement is subject to the state's laws as they were at the time of the agreement. Video poker was legal in South Carolina then, but has since been outlawed.

The 1993 settlement says "the tribe can have, on its reservation lands, video poker and similar electronic devices," Collier said.

"Can we have that in Santee? No, because it says we can only have it on our reservation land. The land we have an option on in Santee is not reservation land," Collier said.