For Immediate Release
Contact: Shawn Pensoneau
(202) 632-7003
NIGC Offers New Database for Background Information
Washington, DC September 9, 2009 — The National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC) announces new technology available to tribes to obtain background information on prospective license applicants. Through a new system called Tribal Access Portal (TAP), tribal gaming regulators who are engaged in issuing gaming licenses will be able to check whether a license applicant has a history with any other gaming tribe. Along with information provided by the NIGC/FBI fingerprint submission service, the TAP results will help tribes complete a comprehensive background investigation of prospective license applicants.
The TAP system is a secure web-based, user-friendly system that will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Tribes that apply for and are granted authorized access credentials to the system will be able to go to the special NIGC TAP website and submit a search request to the NIGC database by providing the applicant’s first name, last name and Social Security number. Displayed within seconds will be a list of tribes that should be contacted for the applicant’s licensing history. Telephone and other contact information for those tribes will also be displayed. Instructions for obtaining access credentials can be found at TAP website.
“As the Indian gaming industry matures, more and more frequently licenses will be sought by individuals who have applied for or been granted licenses by other tribes engaged in Indian gaming,” said NIGC Chairman Phil Hogen in a letter addressed to tribal leaders and regulators. “Verifying applicants’ licensing history with other gaming tribes is challenging, and the National Indian Gaming Commission is extremely pleased to announce a new tool to expedite that process and help ensure that it is comprehensive.”
Please visit www.nigc.gov for further information.
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The NIGC is an independent regulatory agency established within the Department of the Interior pursuant to the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988.
Download the PDF here.
