Federal choose upholds Coquille Tribe’s Medford gaming facility

A federal choose in Washington, D.C., has dominated that the Coquille Indian Tribe can hold working a gaming facility in Medford after upholding the U.S. Department of the Interior’s determination to position about 2.4 acres there into belief for the Tribe and authorize gaming on the location.

In a memorandum opinion issued Friday, Sept. 4, U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta denied a problem introduced by the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians, the Karuk Tribe and the Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation. Mehta granted abstract judgment to the federal authorities and the Coquille Tribe, which joined the case to defend the choice.

The lawsuit challenged the Department of the Interior’s January 2025 approval on a number of grounds, however the court docket rejected every argument. The ruling centered on the Coquille Tribe’s Restoration Act of 1989, which restored the Tribe’s federal recognition and approved the Secretary of the Interior to take land into belief inside the Tribe’s five-county service space: Coos, Curry, Douglas, Jackson and Lane.

Because the Medford property is inside that service space, the court docket agreed the land qualifies as “restored lands” underneath the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, which means gaming is permitted there.

The determination affirms the Tribe’s authority to function the Medford facility, which opened after approval by the Department of the Interior in January 2025. The ruling is a remaining, appealable order, which means the plaintiff tribes might search evaluation within the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

The Coquille Tribe mentioned it should proceed working the gaming facility and plans to direct revenues to fund companies, applications and help for present and future generations of tribal residents.