Utah Attorney General Derek Brown is expected to announce new legal action involving online gambling imminently.
The state continues efforts to enforce its longstanding prohibition on gambling, including online sports betting.
The announcement comes as Utah maintains one of the country’s strictest legal positions on gambling. The state’s constitution has prohibited the legislature from authorizing games of chance and lotteries since Utah became a state in 1896.
That prohibition also extends to online gambling. Under state law, participating in online betting is illegal, while intentionally offering online gambling to someone in Utah is classified as a felony.
Although details of the expected legal action have not yet been disclosed, the announcement could provide further insight into how the state intends to pursue enforcement against online gambling services. It remains unclear which companies or platforms, if any, will be specifically targeted.
The development comes amid Utah’s ongoing legal dispute with prediction market operator Kalshi. Earlier this year, a federal judge ruled in favor of the state, rejecting Kalshi’s argument that its federal registration protected its contracts from Utah’s gambling laws.
Kalshi has since appealed the ruling, leaving the dispute unresolved.
Since then, Utah Senator John Curtis has issued a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee in part because of Trump Jr.’s “significant financial and advisory ties to prediction-market platforms.”
Brown’s expected announcement may offer further clarity on Utah’s approach to online gambling and related financial products. Until the details are released, however, the scope and targets of any new legal action remain unknown.
Utah has banned gambling and betting since before it became a state in 1896, The making it one of only two US states, along Hawaii, to completely ban all forms of commercial gambling, casinos and state lotteries
