Osage Nation Moves Forward With Plan for Lake of the Ozarks Casino

Osage Nation has moved one step closer to developing a casino at Lake of the Ozarks after reaching an agreement with the City of Lake Ozark. The arrangement outlines cooperation between the two parties as planning continues for a potential gaming and hospitality complex.

Good to Know

• Proposed project includes 40,000 square feet of gaming
• Development plan features a hotel, amenities, and meeting space
• Project requires federal and state approvals before construction

The proposed Osage Nation casino would feature 40,000 square feet of gaming, a hotel with 150 rooms, meeting facilities, a fitness center, a pool, and additional amenities. The agreement with the city clarifies how municipal services would be provided and how revenue would be allocated for those services.

Lake Ozark city administrator Harrison Fry said:

“They are able to do a casino here within the city limits of Lake Ozark. (The agreement between the city and Osage Nation) explains very clearly the level of municipal services they would get–police, water, sewer, etc., and then the revenue that the city would get in exchange for those services.”

The partnership allows both sides to finalize design elements and operational expectations while they wait for federal and state-level review.

Regulatory Hurdles

Several approvals remain before construction can begin. The project requires authorization from the U.S. Department of the Interior, which oversees tribal gaming through the National Indian Gaming Commission. The casino would fall under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 rather than Missouri state casino limits.

Missouri caps state-regulated casinos at thirteen, and voters rejected an initiative in 2024 that attempted to authorize a fourteenth casino at the lake. The proposed Osage facility is exempt from that restriction because it qualifies as a tribal development governed at the federal level.

Fry outlined the next steps:

“They are still in their petition process with the Bureau of Indian Affairs to have that 27 acres converted into federal trust land, which would then give them the opportunity to conduct gaming enterprises on the site.”

Local officials expect the progression to take time due to the nature of federal review.

“Our understanding is the Osage Nation, of course, would like to get this underway as quickly as possible. But that federal process, you know, it takes a lot of diligence on their part and from the feds.”

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