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Osage River Casino Scores A Critical Vote Of Support In Lake Ozark

  • Updated
  • 2 min to read
Casino Gambling

LAKE OZARK, Mo. — The City of Lake Ozark has given its official support to the construction of a state-regulated casino on the Osage River.

The City Board of Aldermen voted unanimously on Tuesday, Dec. 12 to approve the second reading of a resolution supporting such a casino. Currently a group of investors known as Osage River Gaming and Convention is planning to construct a casino near the shores of the Osage River. However, that group needs a change to the Missouri Constitution in order to do so, for two reasons:

1) The state constitution currently only allows casinos to be constructed either on the Mississippi or Missouri rivers, and

2) State law currently allows only 13 casinos to operate in the state — restricted by the issuance of a maximum of 13 licenses from the Missouri Gaming Commission.

ORGC wants to change the state constitution to allow casino gaming on the Osage River, and to add an additional (14th) license to the current 13 licenses, earmarking that new license to be given exclusively to a casino on the Osage River.

The group is currently working on the Citizens Initiative Petition process in order to get enough signatures to get the question on the November 2024 ballot, and they say their polling shows strong support of such an amendment.

Read more about the group’s plans, here.

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LakeExpo's editorial team has covered the proposals of both the private-investor casino and the Osage Nation casino since 2020. Here's a complete library of the dozens of articles we've written in the past few years...

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The group has been working closely with Bally’s, which could end up operating the casino, pending approval by the Missouri Gaming Commission.

ORGC spokesperson Tim Hand told LakeExpo Tuesday’s endorsement from the city is critical for the group’s success, since one of the multiple factors the state gaming commission would consider in issuing the license would be whether the casino has support from the municipality in which it would be operating. Another factor, Hand said, is whether the casino would detract from current revenues at any other licensed casinos. The group feels like their position is strong on that question, he said, since a significant percentage of Lake of the Ozarks tourism revenues come from out-of-state and since the nearest casino to the Lake is the Isle of Capri in Boonville, Mo., just north of Interstate 70, an hour and 20 minutes away from Lake Ozark.

ORGC is hoping to develop a site for a casino at Eagles’ Landing, Phase 4, which sits alongside Highway 54.

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