All Eyes On Osage Nation Casino Project Following Rejection By Voters For Osage River Spot

With a ballot issue failing in November that would have cleared the way for a locally owned and operated casino to set up shop in Lake Ozark, it continues to a case of wait and see what happens next.

Lake Ozark Administrator Harrison Fry says it’s the city’s understanding from the Bureau of Indian Affairs that steps continue to be taken that would land an Osage Nation casino in the city.

“It’s one of the many steps they’ve got to go through before it can be turned into tribal trust land. We provided some feedback to that and BIA indicated to us that the first draft of that would probably made for public comment period in quarter one or early quarter 2 of this year.”

Those steps apparently continue despite the City of Lake Ozark, previously to the ballot issue’s failure in November, rejecting a resolution of support for the Osage Nation based on a tie-breaking vote by Mayor Dennis Newberry.

KRMS News has reached out to the Department of the Interior, the Osage Nation and Governor Mike Kehoe’s office about the status of a casino with no replies received back as of today.