Racing and Gaming Commission members. (file photo)
The former operator of the Argosy riverboat casino in Sioux City is headed back to court. Penn National Gaming, which ran the Belle of Sioux City, is appealing the November 7th ruling by Judge Eliza Ovrom to the Iowa Supreme Court.
Judge Ovrum ruled that the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission acted within its authority in granting a license for the new the land-based Hard Rock Hotel & Casino while denying Penn Gaming a license to build and operate their own new land casino.
City attorney, Nicole Jensen-Harris, says the city of Sioux City will be involved in at least one aspect of the appeal. “My understanding is that the request for appeal includes several actions that Belle is contesting to the higher court. The city did intervene in an action last January and that would be the only action that city is involved in on appeal,” Jensen-Harris says.
She says since the city intervened, they will have to go through the same processes that some of the other parties involved in more of the actions will go through. Argosy attorneys also filed a motion to combine the case with another appeal that challenges the judge’s order to shut down the Argosy.
Penn National Gaming failed in several attempts in court to keep the riverboat operating, and it shut down at the end of July. The new Hard Rock casino opened in August.
(Reporting by Woody Gottburg, KSCJ, Sioux City)