The City Board of Aldermen voted unanimously on a heated event 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.
The City of Lake Ozark has given its official support to the construction of a state-regulated casino on the Osage River.
The Osage Nation tribe is also seeking to build a casino at Lake of the Ozarks, which does not require a new gambling license from the state, but rather state and federal approval. A tribal casino would generate no state or local tax revenue.
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.
