Lumbee Council Approves Gaming Ordinance 14-2, Opening Casino Path

The Lumbee Tribal Council has approved a gaming ordinance by a 14-2 vote, the clearest sign yet that the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina intends to pursue casino-style gaming along Interstate 95 in Robeson County. The Lumbee gaming ordinance could allow Class III gaming on Lumbee lands, but the vote settles only one link in a long chain of approvals. A compact between the tribe and the State of North Carolina is still required, and the tribe has said it will vote on that compact separately.

The council acted on a Friday, according to local reporting published the following day. Tribal Council Speaker Alex Baker framed the outcome as a hand-off to the membership, saying, "Now, this question belongs to the Lumbee People." Chairman John Lowery has ten days to certify any ordinance that affects fundamental rights, a step that remains outstanding in the public record as of this writing.

What the Lumbee gaming ordinance does and does not do

A tribal gaming ordinance is the foundational legal instrument for any tribal casino. Under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA), a tribe must adopt an ordinance before it may conduct Class II or Class III gaming, and the ordinance must meet federal requirements covering ownership, the use of net revenues, licensing, audits and protection of the environment and public health. Our explainer on gaming ordinances and NIGC approval walks through what a reviewing body looks for.

What the ordinance does not do is authorize construction, guarantee a particular type of facility, or bind the State of North Carolina to anything. Class III gaming, the category that includes slot machines and table games, may be conducted only under a tribal-state compact or, in limited circumstances, secretarial procedures. For that reason the council's vote is best read as a threshold event: it gives the tribe a legal vehicle to begin compact discussions from a position of procedural readiness, and it removes the internal obstacle that stalled the effort earlier this year.

That obstacle was real. In June, an amendment designed to clear the way for a future Robeson County casino did not advance, and Chairman Lowery said at the time that the tribe would pursue gaming if it passed. The path since then has been a deliberate one, running through committee drafting sessions and a series of public hearings held across the tribe's four-county territory in September, where enrolled citizens were invited to comment on the draft text before the council voted.

The remaining approvals

Several steps must still occur before a Lumbee casino could open. The first is certification of the ordinance by the chairman within the ten-day window. The second is the compact. North Carolina has existing tribal gaming arrangements, and any new agreement would require negotiation with the state, ratification on the tribal side and, in the ordinary course, review by the Secretary of the Interior. The mechanics of that review, including the 45-day clock after which a compact can be deemed approved, are described in our guide to how compacts and amendments move through the approval process.

The third step is federal: a gaming ordinance is submitted to the National Indian Gaming Commission for approval by its chairman. The commission has operated with reduced leadership this year, a situation we have followed in our coverage of the NIGC chairperson vacancy and stalled approvals. Whether that affects the timetable for a Lumbee submission will depend on how and when the commission's quorum and leadership questions are resolved.

Questions of land and eligibility also sit outside the ordinance vote. Gaming under IGRA is limited to "Indian lands," and a tribe's eligibility to game depends on its federal status and the character of the specific parcel. Readers who want the background should consult our explainers on federal recognition and gaming eligibility and on fee land versus trust land. The reporting on the council vote does not address how the tribe intends to resolve those questions for a Robeson County site.

The proposed project and the market context

Renderings of a casino were released months before the vote. The concept described publicly is a destination resort rather than a standalone gaming floor: two hotels, a museum and heritage center, a casino, a convention and entertainment center, condominiums and a golf course. Projects of that scale are typically financed against future gaming revenue, which makes the interest-rate environment and the structure of any revenue-sharing terms in a compact central to feasibility. Our analysis of tribal gaming borrowing costs and bond market access explains why those variables matter more now than they did five years ago.

The location is strategically notable. Interstate 95 carries heavy north-south traffic through eastern North Carolina, and the Southeast has been described as one of the less-saturated regions for tribal gaming, with the Catawba Nation's developments and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians' properties anchoring the state's existing tribal market. For comparison with established markets, see the TribalGaming.com directory.

What to watch next

Three developments will indicate how quickly the Lumbee effort moves: whether the chairman certifies the ordinance inside the ten-day window, whether the tribe schedules a membership vote or other formal process on a compact, and whether state officials signal any willingness to open negotiations. Until a compact exists, the ordinance is best understood as preparation rather than authorization. The council's 14-2 margin is decisive, but the larger tests of Lumbee gaming lie in the state and federal approvals ahead.