Butler County could be in the running for a new mini-casino, though many elected officials are not keen on having one in their community.

The state Gaming Control Board Wednesday will hold the first of 10 silent auctions for licenses for mini-casinos.

Gov. Tom Wolf last year signed Act 42 of 2017 into law, which authorized the 10 new casinos and expanded gambling, including video gaming terminals at truck stops and airport gaming tablets.

Also called satellite casinos, the mini-casinos will be permitted to have up to 750 slot machines and up to 30 table games.

In Butler County, 17 of 57 municipalities voted to opt out, which was allowed under Act 42, before the Dec. 31. deadline. The municipalities that opted out include Harmony, Slippery Rock, Petrolia, West Liberty, West Sunbury and Buffalo, Butler, Clearfield, Clinton, Connoquenessing, Fairview, Franklin, Oakland, Center, Cranberry, Jackson and Worth townships.

Statewide, 1,017 of Pennsylvania’s 2,562 municipalities opted-out.

Despite not opting out, several other municipalities would be ineligible for a mini-casino since they are less than 25 miles away from Rivers Casino, a category 2 casino in Pittsburgh.

This includes Saxonburg, Zelienople, Mars, Callery, Seven Fields, Evans City, Adams Township, Forward Township, most of Penn Township and about half of Jefferson Township, according to a map released by the Gaming Control Board.

An exception to this rule would come if Rivers Casino wanted to open a satellite location less than 25 miles away from its main facility.

The bid for each license must be at least $7.5 million and only casinos that hold a category 1 or 2 license may bid, according to the Gaming Control Board’s website.

A full story appears in Wednesday's Butler Eagle.