A former state legislator who spent years pushing to win approval for a casino in the southern Indiana town of French Lick has died.
Brosmer-Kemple Funeral Home says former Democratic Rep. Jerry Denbo of French Lick died Monday. He was 63.
Denbo had a 17-year career in the Indiana House before resigning in 2007. He spent a decade pushing legislation in hopes of establishing a casino in Orange County, which had long been one of the most economically depressed areas of the state.
The bill passed in 2003, and the casino at the French Lick Resort opened in 2006.
Denbo also authored legislation making it legal to post the Ten Commandments in public buildings.
Arrangements are pending at the Brosmer-Kemple Funeral Home in French Lick.
