State Capital Bureau
JEFFERSON CITY - The Missouri Gaming Commission has allowed two moat-based casinos to continue operating while their constitutionality is determined.
The commission renewed the licenses Monday of the Players and Harrahs casinos in Maryland Heights on a contingent basis. Both of their licenses were set to expire Tuesday. Had the commission not acted, the two St. Louis County casinos would have been forced to shut down their slot machines and other games of chance.
This action comes despite a November 1997 Missouri Supreme Court ruling that such moat-based casinos violate the state constitution, which permits games of chance "only upon the Mississippi River and the Missouri River."
Harold Bailey, commission spokesman, said commissioners had to renew the licenses or amend license revocation procedures. Cole County Circuit Judge Byron Kinder ruled in January those procedures, which put the burden of proof on the casinos, violate due process of law. Kinder's order prohibits the commission from denying relicensure to the casinos under its current rules.
The commission has appealed Kinder's decision to the Missouri Supreme Court, which granted the request for expedited review. Oral argument has been set for May 7.
Bailey said the commission stands by its procedures.
"We could amend our rules," he said, "but we are arguing they are proper."
Steve Taylor of Casino Watch, an anti-gambling group, said the two casinos should never have been licensed in the first place.
"They have just relicensed a facility they believe to be unconstitutional according to their own disciplinary order," Taylor said.
Following the November Supreme Court decision, the commission proposed revoking the licenses of seven moat-based casinos. That action was blocked by Kinder.
The decision to relicense potentially unconstitutional casinos demonstrates the power of the industry, Taylor said.
The state and the city of Maryland Heights will continue reaping the tax revenues of the two casinos. Taxes from these casinos totaled nearly $4 million in January alone, according to gaming commission figures.
"Certainly the casinos do generate a lot of revenue for the city," said Steve Mamanella, spokesman for Maryland Heights.
About one-third of the city's budget now relies on casino taxes, he said, which is being used for infrastructure improvements.
"We're happy the casinos are still operating and are confident that they still will be for some time," Mamanella said.
|
[Missouri Digital News is produced by the State Government Reporting Program of the Missouri School of Journalism (home of the The Journalist's Creed) with support from the Missouri Press Association, the Missouri Broadcasters' Association, KMOX Radio in St. Louis and KSMU Radio in Springfield.
MDN was designed and is managed by Phill Brooks] |
