Ronnie Johns retires after decades in LGCB

Added: May 15, 2024

The Louisiana Gaming Control Board (LGCB) Chairman Ronnie Johns has served for almost 4 decades and is stepping down. He will be retired from 30th June.

By then however, the Governor of Louisiana, Jeff Landry will have named a successor.

In Sulphur City Council John began political career as a member in 1978-sitting in the Louisiana House of Representatives, eventually becoming Senator. He was placed in this capacity by his predecessor-John Bel Edwards (ex governor) during July 2021. Johns has opted to leave office to spend time with his wife, Michelle, especially as his 75th birthday is approaching.

During his term as the head of the LGCB, Johns oversaw major developments that transformed Louisiana’s gambling sector, such as the launch of physical and online sports gambling. That marked Louisiana’s first substantial growth in its gambling sector since the time around 1990. Such transformations made possible investments exceeding one billion dollars that involved a shift from using riverboats as casinos towards constructing stationary facilities throughout the state, the latter having been necessitated by both legislation passed and natural disasters. He supervised one of the major projects of converting Isle of Capri Lake Charles riverboat into a new terrestrial casino that started in 2022. Moreover, John had a share in saving a dying floating casino by assisting a developer acquire and come up with a new casino resort in that region.

The lengthy and history-packed career of Ronnie Johns in government and gambling control marks an end of an era with his retirement.

LGCB