Phil Hogen named to Indian gambling board

By Steve Miller, West River Editor | Saturday, November 16, 2002

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WASHINGTON - Phil Hogen of Black Hawk, the former U.S. attorney for South Dakota, will become the next chairman of the National Indian Gaming Commission.

The U.S. Senate confirmed Hogen's nomination Thursday night.

President Bush nominated Hogen, a Kadoka native and member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, to head the three-member commission. The commission oversees gambling operations conducted by the nation's 562 federally recognized American Indian tribes.

Hogen is currently associate solicitor for Indian affairs at the Department of Interior.

He could assume his new duties as early as next week, Hogen said in a telephone interview Friday night.

Hogen, who served as vice chairman of the National Indian Gaming Commission from December 1995 until June 1999, said the commission would face a challenge overseeing a greatly expanding Indian gaming industry.

"The challenge is to make sure it expands in a proper and orderly fashion, that it stays squeaky clean, that the economic development benefits go to the tribe and to make sure the folks that play at the gaming facilities get a fair shake," Hogen said. "It will be a continuing challenge."

The tribal gaming industry has outgrown the commission's resources. He said the new commission would have to be more efficient and perhaps seek more inspectors, auditors and equipment to adequately monitor the industry.

The commission is also getting two other new members: Nelson Westrin, executive director of the Michigan State Gaming Commission, and Chuck Choney, a former FBI agent from Shawnee, Okla. Choney is a tribal member. Westrin is a non-Indian.

Saunie Wilson of Pine Ridge, executive secretary of the Oglala Sioux Tribal Gaming Commission, called Hogen's appointment "extremely positive because he's right from our own back yard."

She said Hogen realizes that rural western tribes with casinos are not in the same situation as small urban tribes made rich by casino gambling.

"He's aware that what we do out here is employment," Wilson said in a telephone interview Friday evening. The Oglala Sioux Tribe's Prairie Wind Casino employs about 200 people. All but a handful are Oglala Sioux Tribe members, she said.

"He has a solid enough background to be able to handle all of the issues we need to deal with," Wilson said. "We're looking forward to working with him again."

Hogen, 58, was director of the Office of American Indian Trust in the Interior Department in 1992-93. From 1981 to 1991, Hogen was U.S. attorney for South Dakota. Before that, he was Jackson County state's attorney, president of the South Dakota State's Attorneys Association and a board member of the National District Attorneys Association.

Hogen received a bachelor's degree from Augustana College in 1967 and completed his law degree at the University of South Dakota in 1970.

"The Senate confirmation of Phil last night is great news for South Dakota's tribal community," Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., said in a news release Friday. "Phil will be able to use his extensive experience with tribes and knowledge of federal Indian law to serve as an effective commissioner of this important Indian gaming oversight and enforcement agency."

Rep. John Thune, R-S.D., supported Hogen for White House consideration for the post.

Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., voted for Hogen's appointment when it came before the Senate Indian Affairs Committee.

The primary mission of the commission is to regulate gambling activities on Indian lands to prevent organized crime and other corrupting influences, to ensure that Indian tribes are the primary beneficiaries of gambling revenue, and to make sure gambling is conducted fairly and honestly by both operators and players, according to a news release from Daschle's office.

Hogen replaces Montie Deer of Kansas, whose term as chairman ended in September.

Call Steve Miller at 394-8417 or steve.miller@rapidcityjournal.com