Kansas Legislation Introduced to Put Out Smoking Inside Casinos

Smoking indoors is permitted throughout the four commercial casinos in Kansas. However, new legislation is looking to move it outdoors. 

Two committees in the Kansas Legislature have filed bills that would amend the current Kansas Indoor Clean Air Act. 

The Kansas Indoor Clean Air Act took effect on July 1, 2010 which got rid of smoking indoors at most public settings and workplaces. 

Kansas Casinos are the Exception

The key word above, though, is “most,” as casinos aren’t part of it. The law includes exemptions, such as “gaming floors of lottery gaming facilities or racetrack gaming facilities.”

Thus, indoor tobacco smoking is allowed. 

The Senate Committee on Federal and State Affairs and House Committee on Health and Human Services believe it’s time for that law to change. 

The bills were filed in Senate Bill 176 and House Bill 2252. These come as committee-recommended legislation. 

Included in that legislation would be hotels losing the right to designate 20% of guestrooms for smoking, cigar dinners benefitting charities would be axed, and medical facilities that conduct research into tobacco wouldn’t be allowed to offer those involved closed smoking rooms. 

Those Against Smoking in Casinos Delighted

There are four commercial casinos in Kansas. These sites, Boot Hill, Kansas Star, Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway, and Kansas Crossing, offer live dealer table games and sports wagering. 

If a bill passes, guests will have to go outside to smoke. 

As of Feb. 2025, online casinos aren't legal in the state, though players can play at sweepstakes casinos. 

That said, CEASE, also known as the Casino Employees Against Smoking Effects, is also pushing for this. This is just one of many CEASE chapters throughout the country. This is the same organization that was combatting smoking inside Atlantic City, New Jersey casinos last year. 

“We’ve been breathing secondhand smoke on the job for years while lawmakers drag their feet — it’s unacceptable,” said Joe Hafley, security officer for Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway and founder of CEASE Kansas and Missouri. “No other workplace in Kansas forces employees to inhale toxic air.”

Hafley has said that employees at these casinos have been putting their health at risk since the first site opened in December 2009. 

“We are not asking for special treatment — just the same protections as every other worker in the state,” Hafley added.

Revenue at casinos in the state has skyrocketed. In 2023, the four casinos had a combined revenue of $588 million. 

This isn’t the first time legislation has been introduced to stop smoking. It happened last year and failed. 

Tribal Casinos Not Part of This

In addition to the four commercial casinos, there are six tribal casinos.

However, this law wouldn’t have anything to do with tribal casinos, which allow smoking. These casinos operate on sovereign Indian lands and aren’t part of many state laws.