The Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation has filed a federal lawsuit against the Kansas Lottery, alleging the state is unlawfully selling lottery tickets and operating lottery machines within the Nation’s reservation boundaries in violation of federal law and tribal sovereignty.
The complaint, filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas, seeks to halt the Kansas Lottery’s sale of lottery tickets and operation of lottery machines at approximately two dozen locations located within the Nation’s reservation. The lawsuit contends the state is violating the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA), the Nation’s Gaming Ordinance, and the Tribe’s sovereign authority over gaming activities on its reservation.
“Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation has been a valuable partner to the state of Kansas and to the four counties where our land sits – through partnership, job creation and as an economic engine,”Tribal Council Chairman Joseph ‘Zeke’ Rupnick said. “At a minimum we expect state and local governments to adhere to the treaties that have cemented our boundaries for centuries, affirming our sovereignty on what’s always been our land.”
According to the complaint, federal law grants the Nation the exclusive authority to regulate gaming activity within its reservation. The Nation argues it has never authorized the State of Kansas to conduct lottery operations on tribal lands, making the continued sale of lottery tickets a violation of both IGRA and the Nation’s Gaming Ordinance, which require the Tribe to maintain the sole proprietary interest in all Class III gaming activities within the reservation.
The lawsuit also argues that the Kansas Lottery’s actions violate the Nation’s longstanding common law authority to regulate civil matters within its reservation, an authority recognized by federal courts before the enactment of IGRA.
The Nation says it attempted to resolve the matter before filing suit. During May and June 2026, tribal officials sent multiple written notices to Kansas Lottery Executive Director Stephen Durrell informing him of the alleged violations. Tribal legal counsel also met with representatives from the Kansas Attorney General’s Office and the Kansas Lottery to discuss the issue, but the Nation says those efforts failed to produce a resolution or stop lottery sales within the reservation.
Nation Seeks Recognition of Reservation Boundaries
In addition to challenging the lottery operations, the lawsuit asks the federal court to declare that the Nation’s 900-square-mile reservation, established under the Treaty of 1846, has never been diminished or disestablished and therefore remains Indian land under federal law.
The reservation encompasses portions of present-day Jackson, Pottawatomie, Shawnee, and Wabaunsee counties in Kansas. The Nation notes that the reservation was established before the creation of both the Kansas Territory and the State of Kansas.
Under the 1846 treaty, the Potawatomi Nation ceded its lands in the Midwest in exchange for a reservation in Kansas, where the United States promised the land “would be their land and home forever.”
Lawsuit Relies on McGirt Precedent
The Nation’s legal arguments rely heavily on the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark 2020 decision in McGirt v. Oklahoma, which held that only Congress has the authority to disestablish or diminish reservation boundaries and must do so through clear, explicit language.
The complaint argues that Congress has never enacted legislation expressly terminating or reducing the Prairie Band Potawatomi Reservation established in 1846. Citing McGirt, the Nation contends that reservation status remains intact unless Congress clearly states otherwise.
The Nation emphasized that it is not seeking broader changes to state authority beyond enforcement of federal law governing gaming on tribal lands. Instead, it asks the court to prohibit the Kansas Lottery from licensing or operating lottery sales within the reservation for the financial benefit of the State of Kansas in violation of federal law.
