Lang
6/19/25
A judge has rejected a lawsuit filed by the Riverside Casino and Golf Resort in an attempt to stop construction of a casino in Cedar Rapids.
The lawsuit was filed by the Riverside casino as well as the Washington County Riverboat Foundation against the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission, the Linn County Gaming Association, and the Cedar Rapids Development Group. The lawsuit claims that the 2021 referendum, which was approved by voters and permanently authorized casino gaming in Linn County, was improperly worded, because it indicated that the “operation of gambling games with no wager or loss limits may continue” in Linn County, even though there was no casino operating in the county at that time.
Judge Michael J. Schilling has now dismissed the lawsuit, stating that granting the license to Linn County “cannot be fairly characterized as an erroneous interpretation of law”.
The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission voted 4-1 on February 6th to approve a gaming license for the $270 million Cedar Crossing Casino in Cedar Rapids. Construction on the project has already begun, with a targeted opening date of New Year’s Eve 2026.