State Governor orders all eyes on Texas Lottery, Lottery Commissioner resigns
By Kate Northrop
There have been several developments since the Texas Lottery announced a ban on lottery ticket courier services, including the resignation of a Lottery Commissioner and new actions taken by the Lottery against courier companies.
This week marks a series of sweeping condemnations against lottery courier companies in the state of Texas.
On Tuesday, one day after enacting the ban, the Texas Lottery published new policy-consistent steps it would be taking to further reinforce its stance against lottery ticket courier services.
One of these actions is reducing the number of permitted lottery terminals at any official licensed retailer. Retailers are now limited to operating five terminals at a time, and all retailers currently exceeding the limit will have their total reduced to five, a press release states.
The second action is regarding an ongoing investigation into the retailer that sold the winning ticket for an $83.5 million Lotto Texas jackpot last week, which was Winners Corner TX LLC in Austin. The retailer is affiliated with a lottery courier, and it is likely that the lottery courier sold the ticket to the winner through its online services.
As of Feb. 24, the Texas Lottery Commission has expanded its investigation to include all courier services operating in Texas.
"Yesterday's Policy announcement reflects the Texas Lottery Commission's unwavering commitment to enforcing lottery regulations by thoroughly investigating lottery courier services and enforcing retail compliance," Lottery Executive Director Ryan Mindell said in a press release. "We are taking decisive steps to uphold the public's trust and ensure that the lottery operates as intended — in a fair and secure manner. Further actions may be taken as investigations progress and measures are enforced."
Courier companies have since suspended their operations in Texas and even pleaded with their customers to write to Legislature to protest the policy change.
"For years we've operated in compliance with the guidance of the Texas Lottery Commission, and we are disappointed this policy change is now impacting our ability to serve you and other Texans who want a reliable and more accessible way to participate in the lottery," one lottery courier service wrote in an email to their customers.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott directed the Texas Ranger Division, a law enforcement agency in the state of Texas, to investigate "two incidents" involving the Texas Lottery on Monday, namely the $95 million Lotto Texas bulk purchasing event and the recent $83.5 million win from last week. Also known as the Texas Rangers, they have a particular focus on major crime investigations, political corruption, government protection, detective work, and border security.
"Texans must be able to trust in our state's lottery system and know that the lottery is conducted with integrity and lawfully," Governor Abbott said in a statement. "Today, I directed the Texas Rangers to fully investigate these incidents and identify any potential wrongdoing. Texans deserve a lottery that is fair and transparent for everyone."
Today, Attorney General Ken Paxton announced an investigation into "suspicious and potentially illegal lottery 'winnings,'" that involved bulk lottery ticket purchases and the utilization of a third-party courier service.
Paxton aims to determine whether any state or federal laws were broken at any point leading up to the drawings and will examine the process by which the winners obtained a large quantity tickets in a short time span. His press release places "winners" in quotes, suggesting there is ambiguity in the legitimacy of the win.
It is not illegal in the state of Texas to purchase every number combination in a lottery drawing, however, state officials more so want to know whether "non-citizens" are using this in conjunction with an third-party online business to exploit a lottery drawing when it is high enough to theoretically profit from. Lawmakers have also raised suspicions of illegal money laundering.
"I'm deeply concerned about the integrity of our state's lottery system, especially when it appears that non-citizens have shown that they are attempting to rig the system to win on demand," Attorney General Paxton said in a statement today. "Texas citizens deserve far better than bad actors getting rich off of a lottery system that is open to exploitation, and we will hold anyone who engages in illegal activity accountable."
Texas Lottery Commissioner Clark E. Smith resigned on Friday prior to the policy change. As of now, his biography is no longer visible on the Texas Lottery Commissioners webpage. He was appointed to the Commission by Governor Abbott on Nov. 7, 2023, and his term was set to expire on Feb. 1, 2029.
So buying lottery as a non-citizen a crime now?
If you want everyone to have a fair chance then you should've had the restrictions on the lottery terminals from the start.
Stop blaming the immigrants for your incompetence and don't use them as your bogeyman without evidence.
What's next? You're gonna blame the immigrants for the grid failure of 2021 as well?
Paxton & Abbott are the dumbest duo ever.
I wish they were more clear on what they mean by that 🤔
I can only imagine if I had the jackpot winning ticket in my custody with all this drama going on 😭
Omg. Go outside and take a deep breath.
This article has zero to do with illegal immigration. Sounds like they are looking into a possible 3rd party and foreign courier service conspiracy to buy up as many tickets as possible. That info is stated in plain English in the article.
Who said anything about illegal immigration?
You bringing up illegal clears up a few things. Also the article doesn't say anything about a "foreign courier" service. But nice to know you're willing to make excuses for stupid, baseless statements when it aligns with your opinions.
His post was very clear to everyone with ranting about people blaming noncitizens and immigrants.
Again, read the article
It had zero to do with those alleged topics.
If there was something illegal that they uncovered then they'd have led with that. Non-citizens including undocumented are legally allowed to play the lottery. While immigrants generally play the lottery, undocumented are highly unlikely to participate for the fear of deportation when trying to collect. Lack of a social security number complicates it even further for them.
They're already putting the blame on non-citizens before they actually started investigating.
* Texas lottery sure knows how to kill enthusiasm for players. Next they going to ask for your Texas ID in order to collect your prize? Weird behavior to say the least.
This nut Johnnyblaze just sent me 3 inappropriate Private messages. I have him on block now and did not respond. I hope he gets the help he needs.
I blocked Artist77 first cuz I didn't want any racists in my inbox.
He couldn't respond if he wanted to
Downvoting every comment. Very mature.
I'd interpret non-citizen to mean people not in the U.S. as the time the Aussie group bought up all the tickets in the Virginia lottery.
If I remember correctly there was a further uproar when the Aussies claimed they weren't citizens of Virginia or the U.S. and therefore were exempt from taxation. It dragged out in court a couple of years before Virginia paid. And laws changed to prevent it happening again.
Maybe a Mandela effect, in my case.
The whole mess just points out how little government knows about what is happening in their own city right under their noses.
And how inept, or uncaring, one person can be when they work for government.
The Senate Finance Committee, the Texas Rangers, now the State Attorney General; what next?
Nobody is preventing anyone from buying lottery tickets. People driving through states have bought tickets and won money.
And nobody is blaming illegal immigrants for any of this.
If you want to test this theory walk into any Texas lottery retailer, hand them a buck and tell them you want a ticket for the Texas Lotto, no extras.
You will get a ticket. They will take your buck.
You don't need a third party courier to buy a ticket or to cash a winner. I've done it since 1992 when the lottery started and never been asked for an ID or birth certificate.
I never claimed they did.
I also don't see any point in calling out non-citizens when everyone's allowed to play. Instead of admitting their incompetence that led to someone legally buying up all the combinations, their plan is to blame someone about rigging the game Finish the investigation and lay out the crimes, if any, committed. If it's legal then Texans got no one else to blame but the gov itself.
Paxton & Abbott have an established history of being prejudicial towards immigrants. And I'm positive all of the investigations are for show and are not gonna end up in any actual charges. They know it's legally (though not fair) won and it's just a waste of taxpayer money.
Next they will have Elon and Doge investigate and they will blame a 100 year old man.
Do you live in Texas?
If you do, why are getting upset about something you never knew and it didn't bother you?
Nope. Not going to bite on the bait of some established history when it's not the issue and debatable given the Mexican-American population in Texas.
Go read about the class action lawsuit. It'll open your eyes.
I'm not sure how you're so disconnected from what I was saying. I say one thing and you elaborate on something else.
Also whoever's just downvoting instead of disagreeing with anything specific, find something better to do. Or pickup a book.
Anywhere in the world, any country, if you are not a citizen, then you are a non-citizen.
See how simple that is?
So are you a Texan? Or are you ranting about something you don't understand?
From where I sit, all I'm seeing is someone trying to make an argument and place blame without any facts.
If you were to say blind people have a real problem buying lottery tickets I'd agree. The state doesn't print braille play slips.
But arguing over words because they don't mean what them too?
Definitely digging for something to complain about. Maybe you need some ice cream.....
He is just an unhappy and miserable little guy who cannot read well and sees demons in every event or post. When an occasional member rants and obsesses over down votes, we have seen them go downhill very quickly.
One of the pms he sent me called me a racist Texan.
Def looking to fight and argue but some of us have jobs and lives. And he has an issue with Texas. Maybe he is in a detention center there or needs a job.
And how dare he assume my gender. How sexist
Good for them, shut down the cheaters!
Those wins should be for Texas residents not pools of investors buying up every number combination.
I agree with JohnnyBlaze in part. Texas appears to follow a “person-based” approach, identifying the individual first and then determining whether a violation has occurred. The individual in question is a “non-citizen.” However, non-citizen status, by itself, does not equate to unlawful presence. Nonetheless, the government finds it all too easy to apply the full weight of its legal authority against them.
When referring to “non-citizens,” the state is talking about foreign players who legally purchase lottery tickets through courier services authorized by the Texas government. Yet, when such non-citizens win a significant amount, the state seems reluctant to award the prize due to their status.
Additionally, any attempt to take action against the lottery courier service presents a more complex issue, as the Texas government itself holds the exclusive authority to license and regulate these services within the state.
Just limit the number of terminals and tickets per terminal per draw. Problem solved by an easy software update.
Outlawing courier services for Texas lottos is the stupid max-coercion approach that creates more problems than it solves.
Some of the worst government/State abuses that I've seen in the US in my lifetime have involved State abuse of money laundering laws. I recommend outlawing all money laundering laws as they violate basic property rights of potentially any business.
I'm really late ⏰ in seeing all of this! I'm glad I missed it all 🧘🧘♀️🧘🏽♂️📿😮💨