Denver ? A federal appeals court heard arguments Thursday in a case the Wyandotte Tribe of Oklahoma hopes will allow it to reopen a casino in downtown Kansas City, Kan.

Kansas officials raided and shut down the casino across the street from City Hall in April 2004. After the raid, U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson blocked the state from enforcing its laws on the site, known as the “Shriner tract,” but also blocked the tribe from running the casino until courts and the Interior Department can settle the case.

The status of the land, as well as the tribe’s ability to operate a casino there, depend on decisions by Robinson and by the National Indian Gaming Commission.

Conly Schulte, an attorney for the tribe, told a three-judge panel of the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that the tribe has jurisdiction over the land pending the outcome of those cases and should be allowed to reopen the casino.

Kansas attorney Steven Alexander told the court the state should be able to enforce its laws on the site. He argued that a 1996 order by the appeals court, which put the property in federal trust for the tribe, preserved the state’s authority over the land until its status is settled.

Schulte said because the land is in trust for the tribe, it is not subject to state authority.

Judge Carlos Lucero expressed frustration, asking Alexander how the appeals court could issue any ruling until the land’s status is settled.

“You are asking us to exercise some supernatural clairvoyance as to what determination would be made and to issue our ruling on that. It’s a moving target,” he said.

Justin Smith, a Justice Department attorney, told the court that the Indian Gaming Commission has jurisdiction over the Shriner tract and that the government was concerned the injunction may infringe on the agency’s jurisdiction.

He asked the appeals court to reverse Robinson’s order blocking gaming there.

The commission has issued a preliminary ruling saying while the tract is tribal land, it does not qualify for a casino in part because the tribe resides in another state.

The judges did not indicate when they would rule