Nebraska Casino Zoning: Racetrack Enclosures Only

Nebraska's default rule, Neb. art. III, § 24(1), bars the Legislature from authorizing any game of chance. ' The Legislature used that exception to pass the Racetrack Gaming Act, Neb. Rev. §§ 9-1101 to 9-1118. Its operative rule, § 9-1102, states the operation of games of chance 'is permitted only by authorized gaming operators within licensed racetrack enclosures as provided in the act', casino floors cannot be zoned or licensed anywhere else in the state, no matter what a city's own zoning code allows. Siting is a two-step gate.

First, under § 9-1117(1), an applicant for a gaming operator license must submit a market feasibility study, an infrastructure-impact analysis, a full operator-history disclosure, a community-benefit plan, and, the zoning-specific requirement, 'zoning and initial planning approval from the city nearest the site of the proposed licensed racetrack enclosure' (§ 9-1117(1)(c)). The Nebraska Racing and Gaming Commission can reject any application missing one of these. Second, under § 9-1106(27), the Commission itself must deny a racetrack enclosure or operator application if that specific placement and location would be detrimental to the statewide racing or gaming market, based on horseracing, casino-gaming, and socioeconomic-impact studies the Commission updates at least every five years.

Section 9-1104 further limits each licensed enclosure to one authorized gaming operator license, so a single track cannot be carved into competing casino floors under separate licenses. The Nebraska Racing and Gaming Commission (NRGC) administers the whole system.

Nebraska treats casino gaming outside a licensed racetrack enclosure as unlawful gambling, not a zoning infraction to cure with a variance. Manufacturing, distributing, or knowingly possessing a gaming device meant to violate the Racetrack Gaming Act, or rigging one to affect the outcome, is a Class I misdemeanor under § 9-1113. The Commission must separately deny licensure for any enclosure or operator whose location it finds harmful to the statewide gaming market under § 9-1106(27).