A U.S. federal judge has upheld a decision allowing the Coquille Indian Tribe to operate a casino in Medford, Oregon, rejecting a legal challenge by three other tribes after more than a decade of disputes over the project.
U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta denied an appeal by the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians, the Karuk Tribe and the Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation and granted summary judgment to the federal government and the Coquille Tribe, as reported by Rogue Valley Times.
The ruling upholds a January 2025 decision by the U.S. Department of the Interior to place about 2.4 acres in Medford into trust for the Coquille Tribe and authorize gaming at the site.
The casino, on the former Roxy Ann Lanes bowling alley site along South Pacific Highway, has operated continuously since January 2025. It initially opened on a small scale with about 30 Class II gaming machines.
The project, previously known as Cedars at Bear Creek and now called Ko-Kwel Casino Resort, is planned to include a 16,000-square-foot gaming floor with 650 Class II gaming machines, a bar and other services. The plans do not include table games such as blackjack, poker, or dice.
The Coquille Tribe also operates the adjacent Bear Creek Golf Course and Compass Hotel Medford by Margaritaville.
At the center of Mehta’s decision was the Coquille Tribe’s Restoration Act of 1989, which restored the tribe’s federal recognition and authorised the Interior Secretary to take land into trust within the tribe’s five-county service area of Coos, Curry, Douglas, Jackson and Lane counties.
The ruling found that the Medford property qualifies as “restored lands” under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, allowing the tribe to conduct gaming there.
The decision is a final, appealable order, allowing the three plaintiff tribes to seek review by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
Coquille Indian Tribal Council Chairperson Brenda Meade welcomed the decision, saying the ruling confirmed the tribe’s authority under the 1989 legislation.
“Today a federal judge confirmed what we have always known: that the Coquille Restoration Act allows us to provide for our citizens and rebuild our economy in the five counties identified by Congress,” Meade said.
“This ruling ensures our sovereignty is stronger than ever and strengthens our Restoration Act. We celebrate this significant ruling and also remember our past Chiefs and Elders who walked this road before us. They believed in this project when it was only an idea, and they trusted us all to see it through,” she added.
Tribal officials said revenues from the gaming facility would “fund critical services, programs, and support for current and future generations of tribal citizens.”
The casino has also generated employment opportunities, including positions in security and casino membership services.
The Medford City Council initially opposed the casino but later softened its position.
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., however, criticised the Interior Department’s approval, calling it a “casino arms race” and a “reckless choice by D.C. bureaucrats (that) catapults Oregon into an uncontrolled escalation of gambling with no end in sight.”