A long-running dispute over a proposed casino in Madera County has returned to federal court, with the Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians seeking to block the North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians from opening its planned gaming resort.
The lawsuit, filed June 5 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, names North Fork, the National Indian Gaming Commission, and the commission’s chair as defendants. Station Casinos LLC and Red Rock Resorts Inc. were also included because of their involvement in developing the North Fork Mono Casino & Resort.
The future of a mega casino in Madera County is now uncertain.A Fresno appellate court dealt a major blow to the North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians, ruling Tuesday that the approvals used to build the North Fork casino are no longer valid.My latest reporting for @ABC30– pic.twitter.com/F4lGmq3JAu
— Gabe Ferris (@GabeABC30) December 20, 2025
The 305-acre site in Madera County was taken into federal trust in 2013. Picayune argues that California voters rejected the project through Proposition 48 in 2014 and says later court rulings established that the gubernatorial concurrence relied upon by North Fork “never had any legal effect.”…