Kansas Supreme Court shoots down Stevens’ casino appeal

The Kansas Supreme Court on Friday drove a final stake into the Steven brothers’ bid for a $145 million Las Vegas-style casino in southeast Kansas.

The ruling upholds previous decisions rejecting the Castle Rock Casino and Resort proposal, led by local businessmen Brandon and Rodney Steven. The proposed casino would have been built in Cherokee County, a few feet from the Oklahoma and Missouri borders.

Instead, the $70 million Kansas Crossing Casino and Hotel won the right to build. It opened in March of this year at the intersection of U.S. 400 and U.S. 160, south of Pittsburg.

“Yeah, it’s dead; we’re moving on,” Brandon Steven said Friday. “We don’t understand the decision. It doesn’t make sense.

“It’s unfortunate; it’s extremely unfortunate for the state. Kansas is the big loser in the deal. It’s losing millions in much needed tax revenue.”

When the state opened bidding for the casino in the southeast corner of the state in 2015, three investment groups entered proposals. The Lottery Gaming Facility Review Board listened to the proposals at length.

Castle Rock’s central claim was that as the biggest project, with the most jobs and generating the most state tax revenue, the board was obligated to choose it.

But at least two board-hired consultants cast doubt on Castle Rock’s financial projections, particularly with the likely prospect of increased competition from tribal casinos in Oklahoma. The board voted 5-2 to go with the smaller, safer proposal.

Castle Rock and the Cherokee County Commissioners appealed the decision to Shawnee County District Court, saying the board was not well informed, didn’t follow its legal mandate and acted arbitrarily.

The judge ruled in April 2016 that while the board could have ruled differently, based on whether it believed its consultants or Castle Rock’s consultants, its ruling was not unreasonable.

Castle Rock again appealed, saying this time that the district court judge erred in not allowing them the power of discovery to dig up more evidence in order to dispute the decision-making process, as well as reasserting that the earlier board decision was based on insufficient evidence.

On Friday, the Supreme Court rejected all of Castle Rock’s contentions.

“We hold that the district court acted within its broad discretion when it denied appellants’ multiple discovery requests,” the ruling said. “We further determine that the district court correctly held that the Board’s decision to select Kansas Crossing was supported by sufficient evidence; was not error as a matter of law; and was not arbitrary or capricious.”

This story was originally published May 5, 2017 at 11:26 AM with the headline "Kansas Supreme Court shoots down Stevens’ casino appeal."