Bill granting anonymity to winners of $500,000 or more passes in Senate
By Kate Northrop
Arkansas lottery players looking for their next big win might be granted the choice to claim their winnings anonymously after a bill protecting winners' identities passed in the Senate.
On Wednesday, a bill allowing Arkansas winners of $500,000 or more the choice to remain anonymous was approved in the Senate 26-9.
The bill was drafted and sponsored by Senator Larry Teague, who had previously put forward a similar bill in the past. In 2019, he proposed legislation that would amend the state's current Freedom of Information laws to allow any winner of a Powerball or Mega Millions drawing to elect that their identity remain confidential and exempt from public records requests.
Following an indefinite adjournment of the House and Senate, the bill died.
Teague drafted new legislation with slight differences. Any winner of $500,000 or more in Arkansas could remain anonymous, but their identity would become public knowledge after three years.
Additionally, a lottery winner who is either an elected official or is related to an elected official in the second degree can only remain confidential for six months.
The goal of his proposed legislation, according to Teague, is to give winners enough time to prepare and adjust to the quickly amassed wealth while ensuring the safety of their families.
Aaron Sadler, the Communications Director of the Arkansas Press Association, disagreed, saying that keeping lottery winners' identities confidential would hinder the lottery's marketing efforts and open the door to corruption.
It remains to be seen whether players will be granted that option for certain. On Wednesday afternoon, the bill was sent to the House Rules Committee for review, where it must then be passed by the House and subsequently signed by the Governor for it to become law.
Cool.
Not a bad start at anonymity....Enough time to change your name to John or Mary Smith/Williams/Brown/Johnson/Jones. Perhaps relocate to another state and change it again if you feel inclined to do so.
I will never support anonymous lottery jackpots. You used my money to collect. How come I shouldn't know who you are. But I'm in Florida we don't do anonymous.
Well, do you disclose your present checking & saving account balance * if you have one-to everyone at present Msbee? If not, why not?
* Psst, cause it's no one's business.
As someone who lives in Arkansas, I really hopes this pass. Three years is more than enough time to grab your money and run
The Name you choose may depend on where you live:
https://mymodernmet.com/most-common-surnames-map/
Could you be more condescending ? You just have to stomp all over people and tell them why they're wrong.
She is entitled to her opinion , big difference between a personal bank account and winning a lottery, the reason big winners are announced to insure the integrity of the games, sadly lottery winners become targets.
I really don't care one way or the other, I know how to protect myself.
First off, it's an opinion, which l think l am entitled to. I do not need to run my opinion past you to see if it is appropriate or not. Just as she has an opinion, so do l, so do you. There is nothing condescending in my post, and l am not that important for you to follow me around to correct my every move, it gets old.
In a word: Live & let live.
Maybe you need ro digress, don't like the dish you passed?
Every individual if they WANT to should be guaranteed to be anonymous. Three years is better than nothing I suppose. It really is no one's business and don't care about transparency which we hear so much about. Try to get the GAO to release transparency on the cost of the CIA---it will never happen.
If one wins the a large lotto jackpot, one should take it upon themselves to protect their privacy. If the state allows you to claim a prize anonymously, by all means do so.
Here are my thoughts:
Privacy is not cheap. Use your lotto winnings to help create privacy. These privacy expenses are worth the effort, when compared to being a victim of a crime.
If your real name is ever revealed, remember your voter registration record is available to anyone looking for you. Give serious thought when registering to vote if you are ever being stalked or threatened because of your lottery winnings.
Best of luck to each and everyone who is reading this post. Keep buying tickets. It only takes one.
Thank you for such well thought out tips if you hit the big win.
My bank had a teller, Pam, who transferred to another branch. The won the very last KY Lotto prize for several million. Seems like everyone knows, even her co-workers did (I asked!). She was always nice to me.
We have a lady/hubby here and the last name is Gaylord. Yes, same ones who own Gaylord Opryland, one in Colorado and Florida. Bags of money and their property here is nicknamed the White House of the South. Met her once and very nice. Probably 15 years ago and the Hong Kong Parole Board came to KY for a convention. They were taking pictures of dandelions in my yard, thought they were beautiful. Didn't get to go, but they went through her horse stables and they live better than a lot of people do.
Years ago my Sister and I were in French Lick,IN and you know this former big time Celtics fan (home state) had to ask where Larry Bird's house was. Guy says turn right up the hill there and you'll know it when you see it. Not a mansion per se, basketball & tennis courts visible from the road. I'm sure he doesn't live there anymore.
"Do not show your driver's license to anyone other than a police officer. Use a passport in order to provide all photo identification purposes. A passport does not show one's address."
The address on your drivers license is supposed to be your domicile, and that's not necessarily where you live. For lottery winners and anyone else trying to keep a low profile for any reason living someplace other than your domicile is useful, but for ex-pats or people who live in an RV (or any other vehicle) there's no choice in the matter. If you don't have suitable access to an actual piece of real estate it's a bit less convenient to set up a domicile, but sometimes it's a necessity. Of course if you win a significant lottery there's a good chance you'll want to own some real estate as an investment. You could even rent a really cheap place that you almost never visit. You might even be able to rent a place for next to nothing by subletting it. That also takes care of any worries about voter registration or any other records that might be available to the public.
The one thing you don't want to do (or at least not get caught doing it) is claim a domicile in one place and reside for more than half of the year in a place with higher income taxes.
On a related note, if you want to keep your win secret from family pretending to live in an RV is probably a decent strategy. You could own a residence (or 2 or 5) that people wouldn't think you could afford, and have an excellent reason for never inviting anyone to visit and find out.
Just another obvious Kool-Aid drinking attention seeker, Noise: no reason to give them any credibility by answering their lame and childish posts.