By Scott Elpers

The Kansas Star Casino requested a temporary liquor license from the city of Mulvane, which City Administrator Kent Hixson anticipated would be approved at Mulvane’s city council meeting this past Monday.

Kansas Star, which was recently sold to Boyd Gaming, has a city liquor license for the sale of liquor inside the casino, but asked for a temporary license for a parking lot event.

The casino approached the city of Mulvane for a temporary license to sell liquor in the parking lot in connection with a “Crawfish and Shrimp Boil VIP Players Club Event” that will be held in the east parking lot of the casino on Friday. 

Current Mulvane liquor laws make it illegal to sell alcohol without a city license, even if the casino was granted a temporary license by the Kansas Department of Revenue – Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control, Hixson said.

“Today’s Mulvane code does not currently have any provision for temporary licenses, although the state director of the ABC is clearly authorized to issue such licenses within the city limits,” he said. “Nonetheless, the current Mulvane code makes selling alcohol illegal in the absence of a city license.”

Hixson said Mulvane’s city staff believed the ABC will grant a temporary permit to the Kansas Star for the event. Mulvane’s city council could also approve a temporary permit that would match the terms of the state-issued license to make the event legal within the meaning of the code.

The state of Kansas has authorized temporary liquor permits since 1987, but the Mulvane Municipal Code has not kept up with the changes to state laws regarding liquor, Hixson said.