CRA – Licensing and Investigations

The Licensing and Investigations Division determines the suitability of companies, processes the gaming licenses for casino employees, regulatory employees, the Gaming Enterprise Board members, and the Gaming Regulatory Board members. There are approximately 3500 active gaming licenses. Class III gaming licenses renew annually. Vendors and non-gaming licenses are renewed bi-annually.

All vendors who wish to conduct business with the gaming enterprises must apply for a gaming license.

Additionally, the Investigators conduct background investigations on Alcohol License applicants and Tobacco retailer licensees.

Employee Licenses

All prospective employees of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community’s two gaming enterprises, Casino Arizona and Talking Stick Resort, must obtain a gaming license from the Community Regulatory Agency (CRA). In addition to the Tribal gaming license, all gaming employees must be certified by the Arizona Department of Gaming. Both of these processes complement each other to ensure that all licensed gaming employees are suitable for work in a gaming environment.

Employee Licensing Process

• Applicants will be required to complete the gaming license application. The application, when completed and accepted by the CRA, will be assigned to an Investigator. The Investigator will make a copy of the application and forward to the Arizona Department of Gaming for state certification.
• The CRA Investigator will conduct a thorough background investigation to ensure that the Compact licensing requirements are met and that the applicant does not have any of disqualifiers that would require a denial of their application.
• If the Investigator has any further questions or needs additional information from the applicant, contact will be attempted on the phone number listed by the applicant. Timely response by the applicant can assist in preventing delays in completing the background investigation.
• If the preliminary investigation reveals that an applicant is suitable for licensing, a temporary gaming license may be issued to the applicant within one to two weeks. The CRA Investigator may be waiting for additional information to complete the licensing process, including a DPS/FBI criminal history check before a permanent gaming license may be issued.
• All employees with a gaming license by the CRA are always subject to scrutiny for suitability and are required to notify the Licensing Investigator within 72 hours of any contact with police except traffic citations.

Vendor Licenses

The Licensing and Investigations Division determines the suitability of companies and individuals doing business with the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community’s two gaming enterprises, Casino Arizona and Talking Stick Resort. Each company providing gaming products or services, along with its principals and key personnel, must undergo a thorough background investigation. This division licenses all vendors providing gaming services to the gaming facilities.

Each manufacturer and distributor of gaming devices and each supplier of any type of service, sold, leased, or provided to the Gaming Facilities shall be licensed by the Community Regulatory Agency and/or shall be certified by the State Gaming Agency prior to conducting business with Casino Arizona and Talking Stick Resort.

• Each Vendor must obtain a Vendor Sponsorship Letter from Casino Arizona and/or Talking Stick Resort prior to submitting a Vendor Application.
• Community Business License (CBL) and Privilege Tax Permit (PTP) is ONLY REQUIRED if the vendor will be conducting business on the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community Gaming Facilities. Businesses may apply by contacting a representative of the SRPMIC Community Development Department (CDD) at (480) 362-7600 or go to the following link to obtain a SRPMIC CBL and PTP https://businesslicense.srpmic-nsn.gov/LicenseTax/