A tribe in Texas is going ahead with plans to develop a new casino resort near Houston after receiving confirmation from the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC).
The Alabama-Coushatta Tribe has been granted the right to open the Naskila Casino Resort on land it owns in Leggett, Polk County, around an hour north of Houston and close south of its reservation near Livingston.
Previously, it was thought that any new development would have to be on the reservation itself but the tribe was notified by the NIGC and the Solicitor’s Office for the Bureau of Indian Affairs that the land, held in trust since 2001, is eligible to be used for gaming. The new Naskila Casino Resort would be the first casino outside of a reservation in Texas and would be just over an hour north of Houston.
“We have received confirmation from the National Indian Gaming Commission,” said Cecilia Flores, chairwoman of the Alabama-Coushatta Tribal Council, as quoted by the Polk County Enterprise. “We had made a petition to them about gaming on tribal properties outside the reservation in eastern Polk County. The Leggett land is eligible for gaming, so we plan to develop our Naskila Casino Resort there.”
Flores added that the development will mean a significant number of new jobs for the region, as well as new opportunities for tax income, and further community investment. The plan is to break ground later this year.
Naskila old and new
The tribe has owned and operated another venue, Naskila Casino, on its reservation since 2016. It currently has more than 900 Class II electronic bingo-style gaming machines as well as offering hospitality and retail amenities and the Ischoopa Travel Center.
In April 2024, it announced plans for the new casino resort, which will house a state-of-the-art casino floor, hotel, dining and entertainment and attractions for the whole family.
The tribe said at the time that the new resort is expected to add 1,000 additional jobs.
Lawsuit affirms tribes’ limited gaming rights
Texas, renowned for some of the strictest gambling laws in the U.S., has three federally recognized tribes that run gaming operations in the Lone Star State: the Alabama-Coushatta, the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas by the Rio Grande on the Mexico border, and the Tigua Pueblo near El Paso.
Currently, only the Kickapoo runs a full-fledged casino that is recognized by law, its Lucky Eagle resort, as it was granted the right to do so in the 1980s.
The Alabama-Coushatta and Tigua have faced years of legal challenges from the state. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2022 that both tribes may operate games that are not prohibited under Texas law, allowing them to offer Class II machines but not traditional slots.
The 5-4 ruling decreed that if a game isn’t outright prohibited by state law, Texas can’t deny the tribes the right to offer it. The Alabama-Coushatta will therefore be able to offer the type of games it already does at the existing Naskila Casino at its new off-reservation resort, under the watch of the NIGC.
