RIVERSIDE ---- The county Sheriff's Department, the district attorney's office, other county agencies and the city of Temecula will share almost $14 million in profits from Indian gaming in Riverside County.

Supervisors on Tuesday approved accepting the money, which had been delayed from last year when the governor vetoed distribution of the funds, saying the guidelines for spending the money were too loose. In September, the governor signed legislation tightening the way the Indian gaming profits are to be spent.

Riverside County has more Indian casinos ---- nine ---- than any other California county, and gets about 42 percent of the total allocation of Indian gaming profits designated for counties, said Jennifer Sargent, principal management analyst in the county executive office.

Temecula, which is adjacent to the Pechanga Resort & Casino, received $954,050 from the gaming fund and likely will use most if not all of the money for additional police protection, said Assistant City Manager Aaron Adams. Some could be used for roadway improvements, Adams said.

At the county level, the Sheriff's Department and the Fire Department each received about $1.3 million, the district attorney's office got about $1.1 million and the Mental Health Department received about $1.2 million, county records show.

Allocation of a percentage of Indian gaming profits is set by a formula in the original agreement with the state and the tribes. State law mandates that a percentage of the profits from Indian casinos be devoted to poor tribes that lack gaming and to counties and cities to mitigate the effects of Indian gaming. That applies to a range of services including police, fire, emergency medical, roads, the environment, recreation and child care programs.

The amount has fluctuated depending on casino profitability.

Discussions are under way now between the county and several tribes to pay cities and the county directly and thus avoid the administrative fees the state charges.

"We're pretty close to an agreement," said Ron Roberts, a Temecula council member and a member of the county Indian Gaming Local Community Benefit Committee.

Last year, the state collected $283,058 from the county for an administrative fee.

Contact staff writer Jeff Rowe at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2621, or jrowe@californian.com.