The Catawba Indian Nation is preparing a lawsuit against South Carolina. South Carolina, according to the tribe’s lawyer, has repeatedly changed the terms of the tribe’s bingo operations unilaterally. The tribe says that their bingo hall in Rock Hill has suffered significantly due to these changes. Moreover, the tribe is demanding the right to build a second bingo operation in Santee.

In 1993, a settlement between the Catawbas and the state of South Carolina gave the tribe permission to establish two bingo gaming venues in the state. While one was required to be in the tribal area of Rock Hill, the location for the other was not limited to the Rock Hill area. The Rock Hill bingo hall opened in 1997, and has suffered significantly as a result of some changes in South Carolina’s policies.

The South Carolina policy changes have included an obligatory $18 entry fee to the bingo casino, a requirement that each bingo card have a face value printed on it, and, most damaging of all, the education lottery. In the first year of the education lottery, the Catawba bingo hall’s revenues dropped 60%.

In addition to the demands to drop the entry fee and allow building of the second facility, the Catawba Nation is also demanding that the state of South Carolina allow the operation of video bingo games, as well as other electronic games. These games, they say, are operated in casinos belonging to all the other Native American tribes in other states. As a result, the Catawba Nation is claiming that they have the federal right to operate video gaming. In addition, they hope to network the terminals with other states in order to raise the jackpot. Last year, the tribe filed a federal suit asking to be allowed video gambling, but subsequently dropped the suit as a result of disagreements within tribal leadership.