Topeka ? A Kansas judge issued an order Friday temporarily blocking Harrah’s Entertainment Inc. from using a Prairie Band Potawatomi tribal casino customer list.

The casino Harrah’s would have used the list to attract people to a state-owned casino it plans to manage in Sumner County until a noncompete agreement expires in January 2010.

The contract that Harrah’s has been awarded wouldn’t be in operation until the fall of 2010, after the agreement expires. Harrah’s is awaiting final approval from the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission after the state completes a background check.

Harrah’s said it was glad Shawnee County District Judge David Bruns’ order didn’t block development of the south-central Kansas casino at Mulvane. Harrah’s had said that would have doomed the project.

“We are pleased that the judge’s decision today allows us to move forward with the planning and design for the gaming facility,” said Harrah’s spokeswoman Jacqueline Peterson. “We believe that we have fully complied with our agreements with the Prairie Band, and we will continue to do so in the future.”

The Potawatomi Nation contracted with Harrah’s to manage the casino on its reservation at Mayetta, north of Topeka, from January 1997 until July 2007, when the tribe took over. During that decade, the names of thousands of Prairie Band customers were put into Harrah’s larger customer database.

The judge ordered both sides to participate in private mediation within 30 days in an effort to resolve their disputes. If an agreement is reached, that would end the case. If not, there could be additional hearings on whether to make the order permanent.

“The evidence strongly suggests that the parties intended for Harrah’s to be prohibited from using this proprietary customer information to solicit or otherwise entice customers located in the state of Kansas for a period of two years following termination of the management agreement,” Bruns wrote.

Steve Ortiz, tribal council chairman, said in a statement, “The Nation is pleased with today’s ruling and intends to fully comply with the court’s order.” He declined to comment further, citing the pending case.

The tribe went to court last month, saying Harrah’s involvement in the south-central Kansas casino violated a noncompete agreement signed Jan. 13.

That agreement stated that for one year, Harrah’s wouldn’t develop, promote or encourage the expansion of gambling in Kansas other than what’s conducted by the tribe. For two years it wouldn’t own, operate or manage a casino.

The judge noted the court isn’t where the breach of contract claim should be aired at this point.

“It is also important to recognize that plaintiffs continue to have a right to assert a breach of contract claim against one or more of the defendants in arbitration,” Bruns wrote.