Nevada Seeks to Have Kalshi Held in Contempt of Court Over Geofencing Issue
Jesse M. Cox Published 22/06/2026
The Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) has petitioned a Carson City judge. They are asking the court to find prediction market operator Kalshi in contempt of court. Regulators allege that Kalshi intentionally ignored a May 18 court injunction mandating geofencing to prevent Nevada users from trading sports, election, and entertainment event contracts on the company's platform.
State investigators found that they were able to make trades on the Kalshi platform from inside the state, proving that the required geofencing software had not been installed. A representative of Kalshi counted that the problem was the result of a glitch in its technology.
The court ruling made Kalshi technically illegal in Nevada
The May 18 court ruling effectively banned Kalshi from operating in Nevada.
“The court has required Kalshi to stop offering covered event contracts in Nevada,” Nevada Gaming Control Board Chairman Mike Dreitzer said in an emailed release, according to reporting by the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “We will continue to vigorously enforce Nevada law to safeguard gaming in our state.”
The NGCB petitioned the 1st Judicial District Court to find Kalshi in contempt for failing to comply with a court order to geofence its website. Carson City District Judge Jason Woodbury had given Kalshi until May 4 to implement geofencing and or some form of geolocation software. This would prevent any Nevada person from making trades on the Kalshi platform. In fact, based on Judge Woodbury's preliminary injunction, it would be illegal under Nevada gaming laws to do so.
Kalshi claims it was never notified of the faulty geofencing
A Kalshi spokesperson claimed that the company was unaware that its geofencing software was not working properly. Kalshi complained that the NGCB didn’t contact them so that they could fix the issue.
“If the NGCB had a genuine concern regarding a technological flaw in our system, they would have given us the information we need to fix it, yet they haven’t,” Kalshi representative Jacki McGavick said in an email response to the Review-Journal.
Kalshi went as far as to suggest that the NGCB might be staging the entire episode.
“We’ll always work constructively with regulators, but this seems like a PR stunt, and so we’re seeking sanctions and an apology for wasting the court’s time,” McGsavick said.
At the time of his ruling, Judge Woodbury gave Kalshi until May 4 to notify the court if there were any issues resulting from an attempt to implement the geofencing software. He had been willing to grant the company an extension of the time frame.
“Any request for an extension shall include an explanation of the degree to which geolocation or geofencing measures have been implemented, the progress which has been made in regard to any implementation that has not yet been completed, the remaining tasks to be completed, and an estimate of the time necessary to complete those tasks,” Woodbury said.
Nevada is going after Kalshi on two fronts
In the battle being undertaken by state regulators to have prediction market sports-event contracts legally declared as sports betting. Nevada has been setting the standard. The NGCB considers the offering of sports event contracts, along with certain other event contracts, to constitute wagering activity. As such, entities offering these contracts must be licensed in the state of Nevada.
Beyond that, online gambling of all kinds is illegal in Nevada. On that ground, the state is also going after Kalshi's ability to legally operate in Nevada.
"The Board has also determined that Kalshi’s operations are unlawful in Nevada," read a statement from the NGCB.