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TOPEKA, KAN. – During a special meeting today, the Kansas Lottery Commission voted to request that Governor Parkinson extend the deadline for the Lottery to negotiate contracts with casino developers in the state’s Northeast and South Central gaming zones.
Lottery Executive Director Ed Van Petten and the Lottery Commission will ask the Governor for a 60-day extension of the June 30 deadline, which he is expected to approve. The new deadline would be August 28, 2009.
Included in the Kansas Expanded Lottery Act is a provision allowing the Governor to extend deadlines for a period not to exceed 60 days if he determines that “the respective commission or board has acted on good faith to comply with the time limit.”
In requesting the deadline extension, the Lottery’s Director of Gaming Facilities Keith Kocher said, “The Lottery and the applicants have issues that remain unresolved and which prevent the Lottery from executing contracts with them prior to the deadline. The applicants agree that it is necessary and prudent at this time to request an extension of the current deadline.”
Kocher added that, “All parties have acknowledged they intend to reach agreement far in advance of the new August 28 deadline.”
To approve contracts, the Lottery must determine that developers meet minimum requirements as provided in the Kansas Expanded Lottery Act. Those requirements include local endorsement, the applicant’s gaming experience and financial status.
Contracts approved by the Lottery Commission will be forwarded to the seven-member Lottery Gaming Facility Review Board, which will select one developer in each gaming zone to construct and manage a destination casino.