The CrossWinds Casino lawsuit was a 2020 federal challenge in which Kansas tried to overturn the U.S. Department of the Interior’s approval of a Wyandotte Nation casino in Park City. The state lost. A federal district court dismissed the case for lack of standing, and on July 3, 2023, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed, holding that the Secretary of the Interior was statutorily obligated to take the land into trust and that gaming there was permitted under federal law.1NARF. State of Kansas v. U.S. Department of Interior, No. 21-3097
Why Kansas Sued
The trigger was a reversal in Washington. On May 20, 2020, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Tara Sweeney approved taking a 10.24-acre parcel in Park City, Kansas into trust for the Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma, undoing a 2014 Interior Department denial. The approval concluded that the tribe had bought the land in 1992 using funds Congress had set aside under Public Law 98-602 for trust acquisitions, which made the site eligible for gaming under the “settlement of a land claim” exception to the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act’s 1988 cutoff.2Bureau of Indian Affairs. Wyandotte Nation Park City Approval Decision3Federal Register. Land Acquisitions; Wyandotte Nation
On August 10, 2020, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt filed a 38-page complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas asking the court to vacate the decision.4Courthouse News Service. Kansas Sues Interior Department to Block Native American Casino
What the State Argued
Kansas brought its claims under the Administrative Procedure Act and raised four main arguments:
- The state was never notified that the tribe had reopened talks with Interior about reconsidering the 2014 denial, despite Kansas having participated in related proceedings since 2010.5Kansas Reflector. Kansas Attorney General Files Federal Lawsuit to Thwart Proposed Tribal Casino
- A Kansas statute limits the south-central part of the state to a single casino, and the state argued federal law could not simply override that.5Kansas Reflector. Kansas Attorney General Files Federal Lawsuit to Thwart Proposed Tribal Casino
- The 1984 statute’s mandate had already been “finally and completely fulfilled” when a separate parcel, the Shriner Tract in Kansas City, was placed in trust in 1996, meaning it could not authorize a further trust acquisition for Park City.4Courthouse News Service. Kansas Sues Interior Department to Block Native American Casino
- Sweeney had disregarded the department’s own longstanding guidance on when tribes can operate gaming on land acquired after 1988.6The Wichita Eagle. Kansas Files Lawsuit to Block Planned Tribal Casino in Park City
Who Joined the Suit
Kansas was not the only plaintiff. Sumner County, the city of Mulvane, the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska, and the Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska all signed on.6The Wichita Eagle. Kansas Files Lawsuit to Block Planned Tribal Casino in Park City
Each had a competitive stake. The Iowa Tribe and the Sac and Fox Nation already held gaming compacts with Kansas and ran their own casinos. Mulvane and Sumner County were home to Kansas Star Casino, a state-managed facility whose 25-year exclusivity agreement runs through 2032.7The Wichita Eagle. CrossWinds Casino Opens in Park City
How the Courts Ruled
The district court, Judge Julie A. Robinson presiding, granted motions by the Wyandotte Nation and the Secretary of the Interior to dismiss. The court found that Kansas lacked Article III standing and had not identified any applicable waiver of sovereign immunity.8NARF. Wyandotte v. Salazar
Kansas appealed. On July 3, 2023, a Tenth Circuit panel of Judges Bacharach, Phillips, and Eid affirmed the dismissal in Case No. 21-3097.1NARF. State of Kansas v. U.S. Department of Interior, No. 21-3097 The panel held that Interior was statutorily obligated to take the Park City parcel into trust and that gaming on the site fell within IGRA’s settlement-of-a-land-claim exception.9Yogonet. Wyandotte Tribe Wins Legal Battle Over Gaming Operations on Contested Kansas Land With that, the state’s legal path to blocking the casino ended.
The Casino Opened Before the Case Ended
The Wyandotte Nation did not wait for a final ruling. In November 2020, U.S. District Judge Holly Teeter denied the plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction, allowing construction and operations to proceed while the case moved through the courts.7The Wichita Eagle. CrossWinds Casino Opens in Park City
CrossWinds Casino opened on March 2, 2021, in a 20,000-square-foot building with 500 slot machines, 200 video gaming terminals, a high-limit lounge, and a restaurant and bar. Capacity was capped at 375 people, and the casino employed about 150.10KWCH. CrossWinds Casino to Open in Park City in March The tribe had spent nearly three decades pursuing the project and chose to begin operations rather than sit idle through the litigation.11KMUW. Despite State Lawsuit, New Tribal Casino Opens in Park City
Compact, Sports Betting, and Expansion
The lawsuit’s collapse did not immediately give CrossWinds everything a Kansas casino needs. Without a tribal-state gaming compact, the property was left out when Kansas legalized sports betting in September 2022. The Wyandotte Nation cited “separate ongoing litigation with the state” as the reason.12Wichita Business Journal. Sports Betting Off the Table for CrossWinds Casino in Park City
That changed after the Tenth Circuit ruling. In June 2025, Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach issued a formal opinion confirming that Governor Laura Kelly was obligated under federal law to negotiate in good faith with the Wyandotte Nation, that the Kansas Expanded Lottery Act’s exclusivity zones did not apply to tribal gaming under IGRA, and that a compact could legally include sports betting. Any compact would still need Kansas Legislature approval before going to the U.S. Department of the Interior for final review.13Kansas Reflector. Kansas Attorney General: State Can Legally Negotiate Gaming Compact With Wyandotte Nation14Kansas AG. Attorney General Opinion No. 2025-11
On March 31, 2026, Chief Billy Friend and Governor Kelly signed a new Tribal-State Gaming Compact. It authorizes Class III gaming at the Wyandotte Nation’s Kansas casinos and clears the way for sports betting at both CrossWinds and the tribe’s 7th Street Casino in Kansas City.15Wyandotte Nation. Wyandotte Nation Agrees to Compact With State of Kansas Friend said the compact put the tribe on “equal footing with the other tribes and with the other casinos” in Kansas.16WIBW. State of Kansas Signs Updated Gaming Compact With Wyandotte Nation
Construction is now the story. The Wyandotte Nation broke ground on a CrossWinds Casino Resort expansion in June 2025, backed by a $200 million credit facility from BOK Financial.17Native Oklahoma. Wyandotte Nation Breaks Ground on CrossWinds Casino Expansion With BOK Financial Funding The finished project will add a 15-story hotel with 238 rooms and 32 suites, grow the casino floor to more than 1,400 slot machines, and create roughly 350 new jobs. Completion is scheduled for summer 2027.18Wyandotte Nation. Tribe Breaks Ground on CrossWinds Casino Expansion The existing casino, at 30,000 square feet with nearly 800 slot machines, continues to operate while the resort goes up around it.19CrossWinds Casino. CrossWinds Casino Homepage