GRIFFIN PROBE CREATING DELAYS

The Missouri Gaming Commission faces a huge responsibility in examining applications for riverboat casinos and deciding when and if to issue a gaming license. No one expects the commission to proceed hastily or haphazardly. But a wrinkle is threatening to delay Boyd Gaming Corp.'s application for a casino in Kansas City. Boyd also intends to request a license for a riverboat casino in Cape Girardeau.

The wrinkle is the widely reported investigation by state and federal officials into the dealings of Missouri House Speaker Bob Griffin. Among the items being probed is whether or not Griffin has acted improperly in his activities as a lawyer on behalf of two gaming companies, including Boyd.

This week a spokesman for the gaming commission said the review of Boyd's Kansas City application will be delayed until the investigation is complete. This isn't good news for Boyd or for riverboat backers in Kansas City and Cape Girardeau. As Missourians have seen recently, investigations of state officials can easily turn into witch hunts that go on and on with no real conclusion. Surely the gaming commission doesn't intend to wait until every last shred of the Griffin inquiries is completed. That could last for years.

Two things are relevant to this mixture of applications, Boyd and Griffin:

First, it appears the gaming commission is satisfied that the target of the investigations isn't Boyd. It just so happens that Boyd may have been among the clients of Griffin's law firm. There have been questions raised about whether or not Griffin's activities in this regard somehow violates a state law that makes it illegal for a lawmaker to have a contractual relationship related to direct gaming activity.

Second, even if Griffin did something illegal -- which, by the way, is something that deserves close scrutiny and a thorough probe by the appropriate officials -- there doesn't appear to be any wrongdoing on the part of Boyd.

It would be a shame if peripheral probing were to become the stumbling block in every application to come before the gaming commission. Missourians expect the commission to protect the integrity and safeguard the legitimacy of gambling operations in the state. But to allow an investigation into one individual to thwart the plans of otherwise reputable gaming companies seems to go beyond the reach of the gaming commission.

Boyd officials, who are closely monitoring this situation, believe the company's involvement in the Griffin probe will be cleared up shortly, and the gaming commission will then proceed prudently toward a decision on the company's license applications. This would be in the best interests of Boyd and the communities that have endorsed riverboat casinos.