A recent spate of court announcements could clear the way for at least two casino gaming-related lawsuits to be settled soon.

On Friday, the Kansas Supreme Court is expected to file a decision in the case between the State of Kansas and the Kansas Lottery.

The court’s Web site says the decision will be made at 9:30 a.m. and will be made available at www.kscourts.org shortly thereafter.

After Kansas legislators in 2007 passed the Kansas Expanded Lottery Act that paved the way for state-owned gaming, Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius asked then-Attorney General Paul Morrison to file a “friendly” lawsuit to challenge the lottery act.

At issue is whether the state will actually own and operate the casinos.

A Shawnee County District Court judge upheld the lottery act earlier this year.

In a separate legal action, four plaintiffs - all Wyandotte County residents - represented by attorney Caleb Stegall in a lawsuit filed in March in Shawnee County District Court have filed for an extension to review a number of motions to dismiss the case.

Stegall filed the motion last Friday after five groups - PNK-Kansas, the entity behind the Pinnacle Entertainment casino proposal; the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission; the Lottery Gaming Facility Review Board; the Kansas Lottery; and the Kansas Lottery Commission - all motioned for Judge Franklin R. Theis to dismiss the case.

The lawsuit alleges that three casino proposals in Kansas City, Kan. - Pinnacle Entertainment, Kansas Speedway and Legends Sun - violate state law by directly benefiting from previous or future projects that use public forms of financing.

All three groups have repeatedly denied the lawsuit’s claims, though Pinnacle has been the only one of the three to become active in the lawsuit. The group made a motion to intervene in the case on May 12. Though Pinnacle wasn’t named as a defendant in the suit, an attorney representing the company’s KCK proposal said they should be involved because they are mentioned in the suit.

Theis hasn’t ruled on Stegall’s extension, but has called for a hearing at 2 p.m. Friday, July 11, in Topeka.