Imperial Palace wins land from state in Miss. court battle

BILOXI, Miss. (AP) — Imperial Palace Casino has won a land battle with the state of Mississippi.

The Mississippi Supreme Court said this week that a Harrison County judge erred when he ruled in favor of the state in the land boundary dispute. Britt Singletary, a lawyer for IP, said the casino stands to gain clear title to three acres of uplands, where part of its hotel resort is located, as well as 6.5 acres of bottomlands.

The Supreme Court said the secretary of state’s office used historical maps dating back to 1817 to establish boundaries between private land and state-owned tidelands when it should have used a map from July 1, 1973. This is the date that the court in an earlier decision said should be the “starting point” for establishing boundaries.

The case now goes back to Chancellor Donald Patterson, who must use the 1973 map to determine the boundary.

The dispute dates back to 1994 when the secretary of state published a tidelands map, and the IP filed objections. Other waterfront property owners leased land back from the state so they could obtain clear title and obtain financing.

The IP’s owner, Ralph Englestad, challenged the map because he didn’t have to borrow money to build his casino, Singletary said.

He characterized Secretary of State Eric Clark’s actions with casinos as a “money grab.”

“He has used the legal system and the economic pressure of having to get these businesses open to in effect take money for the state they were not entitled to,” Singletary told The Sun Herald newspaper.

David Blount, a spokesman for the secretary of state’s office, said the boundary dispute is not the most important part of the decision to Mississippians.

“The Imperial Palace challenged the basic authority of the state to collect rent, challenged the discretion of the secretary of state to enter into leases and challenged the taxing authority of Harrison County,” Blount said. “The Supreme Court unanimously upheld the state’s authority in leasing and the county’s authority in taxing.”

Singletary said the property rights to 6.5 acres of bottomlands was unexpected. He learned that a prior owner of the property, Bernard Taltavull of the Biloxi Canning Co., had obtained a patent from the state to the bottomlands in 1928 from an article written by Ray Bellande.

“We stumbled across that patent,” Singletary said. “I would have never found it if we hadn’t sued and had this big fight with the secretary of state. I would have never known that the IP had a claim to 6.5 acres out in the water.”

The casino resort may put a marina or wharf development there once the chancellor spells out the directive from the Supreme Court. Its gambling barge is not moored in the 6.5 acres.

Blount declined to comment on the land boundary issues.

“That’s going to be dealt with in chancery court so I can’t talk about that,” he said.

Source: AP

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