Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission leader resigns for private sector job

The administrator of the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission will resign after 20 years with the agency that regulates casinos and sports betting in Iowa.

Brian Ohorilko will step down in January to take a job in the private sector.

“I've done a lot in this space and really just wanted to pursue some other goals,” he told The Gazette Wednesday. “The timing felt right. This will be my 20th year. It felt right to make this change at the end of the year.”

Ohorilko said he isn’t ready to say what his new job will be, but he will remain in Iowa.

“I am excited and motivated for some new challenges. I've got a good 20 to 25 years left in professional service, God willing, and I'm excited to make a positive impact.”

The commission appointed Tina Eick as interim administrator and will accept applications for the permanent post through Dec. 31. The commission expects to appoint the new administrator at its Jan. 25 meeting.

“The other commissioners and I have great faith in Tina and the rest of the IRGC staff to uphold the responsibilities of the commission. We have a great team in place and a solid plan to move forward,” Commission Chair Daryl Olsen said in a statement Tuesday.

Ohorilko was paid $217,427 in fiscal 2023.

The Racing and Gaming Commission administers the laws and rules for gambling and wagering in Iowa in order to ensure the integrity of licensees and their operations, maintain public confidence in regulated gambling and wagering activities in Iowa and promote economic development for the citizens of Iowa, a commission news release states.

Iowa saw a decline in gambling revenue in fiscal 2023, both in sports betting and at Iowa’s 19 state-licensed casinos, The Gazette reported last month.

There was $2.247 billion in sports bets made in the 2023 state budget year, down from $2.455 billion in the same period the previous year — an 8.5 percent decline, according to state figures.

Gambling revenue at state-licensed casinos was more than $1.754 billion in fiscal 2023, which is down slightly — 0.7 percent — from the $1.766 billion recorded in the previous budget year. The Council Bluffs market, which includes three casinos, combined accounted for a year-over-year decline roughly equivalent to the statewide difference.

Ohorilko said his decision has nothing to do with revenue trends or an ongoing investigation of sports betting by student-athletes and others at the University of Iowa and Iowa State University.

“The probe itself is really not something that has been managed by the commission,” he said. The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation has led the investigation, announced in May.

Earlier this year, 16 current and former UI and ISU student-athletes and other individuals were charged with placing illegal bets and tampering with records to conceal their involvement. At least five placed illegal bets on games in which they participated, according to charges filed by prosecutors.

Some of the charges were effectively dismissed when prosecutors allowed a legal deadline to pass; other individuals pleaded guilty to lesser charges that did not call for jail time.

Ohorilko told a parent of one student-athlete charged that “a lot of people don’t agree” with how the state’s investigation was handled, according to a transcript of the call in a court filing published in October.

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