The lawsuit filed by the City of Mulvane against the Sumner County Commissioners and the Kansas Lottery Commission was dismissed today in Shawnee County District Court.
    Attorney Jim Walker for the City of Mulvane argued the Commissioners had violated a contract with their city when the board decided against endorsements of two proposals near the Mulvane exit of the Kansas Turnpike in December.
    The lawsuit filed by Mulvane also centers on the Request for Proposal policy, or agreement, signed off on by Mulvane City officials and created, “purportedly to establish a uniform policy and procedure by which to evaluate and determine whether to endorse specific proposals.”
    Shawnee County District Court Judge Franklin Theis dismissed the argument in his ruling, saying, “the Plaintiff fails to state a claim based on the fact there’s no contract existing.”
    After hearing arguments on the venue of the case, Judge Theis also deemed the issue “purely a local matter” and not one which would fall under his jurisdiction involving a dispute over Senate Bill 66.
    “I don’t think the complaint states a contract breech, but if it does it can be handled in Sumner County where all the parties are,” the Judge ruled.
    Litigation filed by Mulvane attorneys also argue the Kansas Lottery Commission had a responsibility to set regulations for local governing bodies to use in their endorsement process, which they neglected to do.
    However, Judge Theis agreed with arguments by attorney Dan Biles, representing the Kansas Lottery Commission, that their party should not have been involved in the litigation.
    The case filed by the City of Mulvane asked the judge to nullify the endorsements by the Commissioners for the centrally-located casino proposals they selected be passed to the Kansas Lottery Commission in December.
    However, Judge Theis agreed with the reading of Senate Bill 66 as argued by attorney for Sumner County David Cooper, which places authority in local governing bodies to discern the support of the community on the casino issue.
    “Local people, if they are going to have a casino, have some impact through their local officials who will make that final decision,” Theis stated.
    After this ruling, the endorsements by the Sumner County Commissioners are under no legal scrutiny in district court.