TIVERTON — Tiverton has no appetite so far to take sides in a lawsuit brought by a Portsmouth resident that challenges the legality of sports betting in Rhode Island, including at the Tiverton and Lincoln Twin River casinos.

Daniel Harrop of Portsmouth has sued the RI Division of Lotteries and the state Department of Administration in Superior Court, arguing that state (and Tiverton) voters, when they voted in 2016 to approve the Tiverton casino, were not specifically asked to approve sports betting.

The state counters that the town and state questions made reference to “Class 3 gaming” which includes sports betting.

The General Assembly later approved sports betting both at the two casinos and on-line.

Town Council President Robert Coulter said that leaves Tiverton with several questions and choices: Does it wish to join either side in that court fight, does it wish to remain neutral, and if it decides to fight, how will it pay the legal costs?

“We were not involved in that suit (but) the presiding judge judge on his own decided we were an indispensable party so we were dragged in. Do we want to take any position at all?” he asked.

Town Solicitor Giovani Ciccione, who had been asked to review the matter, said the suit aims to answer questions including, “Did the original vote for the casino also include authorization for sports betting? … I think there are compelling arguments on both sides … Do towns like Tiverton and Lincoln have a right to a voice in such issues?”

He said he has discussed the matter with Lincoln (and former Tiverton) Town Solicitor Tony DeSisto and believes the best course for Tiverton is one of neutrality.

“I think, and I think Tony agrees, that perhaps the quickest way to get this behind us so you can have a predictable stream of revenue from your sports betting, which you have today, is to agree that … the question should be resolved by a judge.”

Mr. Ciccione said he recommends that Tiverton “not weigh in on the merits of the case,” for several reasons.

“First, it would be incredibly expensive for you to weigh in a substantive way,” given that the process has scarcely begun and there are already hundreds of pages of briefing materials.

“No matter what we did it would just be echoing what is already being done by one party or another,” the solicitor said. “If down the road we had a compelling reason to support one side or another,” that could be done.

Asked if Lincoln has made a decision yet, Mr. Ciccione said he was not aware of a council vote there except that it opted to reject Twin River’s offer to pay legal bills should the town join it in fighting the lawsuit. Lincoln felt that would be a conflict of interest.

Audience member Roger Bennis said the status of the court dispute “is clear — that the status is ambiguous.”

The ballot did not say “betting, including sports betting,” nor did it say, “this does not include sports betting.”

“Clarity does not exist,” Mr. Bennis said.

So, Mr. Coulter said, “We will show up to court because we have been ordered to do so but we will leave it to the judge.”

Tiverton and Lincoln presently take in around $100,000 per year from sports betting.

No vote was taken but nobody on the council voiced objections to such a strategy.

Council member Justin Katz did not take part in the council discussion due, he wrote, to his possible business association with the plaintiff in the case.