JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — The Missouri Lottery would not be able to release the names and addresses of prize winners under a bill presented to a Missouri House committee on Thursday.
Sponsoring Rep. Rochelle Walton Gray, of Black Jack, told the House Local Government Committee that winning the lottery can subject a person to hardship.
She cited constant phone calls, harassment and loss of privacy as consequences of people knowing the identities of lottery winners. She also said winning big prizes could even result in death. A Chicago man died in July just before he was to collect a $425,000 prize from a scratch-off ticket. His death was ruled a homicide in January.
But Philip Smith of the Missouri Lottery told committee members that revealing a winner's identity provides legitimacy to the lottery.
"To ensure the integrity and to have the public have confidence in our games they have to know that people do win prizes by people purchasing tickets," he said.
Walton Gray said she understands the need to sell tickets and would agree to a compromise that would keep some personal information secret.
Smith said the lottery tries to respect the wishes of winners to remain anonymous, but the identities of prize winners are subject to Missouri's Sunshine Law, making identity information available to open records request.
Of the 44 states with lottery games, only Delaware, Kansas, Maryland, North Dakota and Ohio allow blanket anonymity for winners. Other states, including Michigan, New Jersey and Arizona, are considering similar privacy protections.
Sounds good for Mizzou.
Forecasting cloudy days for the "sunshine law"
Awesome, these people need to realise that some winners lives are at risk. There are some crazy people out there and when money is involved it is even worse. Home invasions can end up with deaths.
Question: for those states like California that currently do not offer anonymity, are winners required to have a news conference? Can the winner ask the lottery not to post their picture but only the name and city?
I think people can form a trust and send a rep. to do appearances.
Can a winner form a trust if they already sign their name on the back of the ticket?
I'm not so sure. That used to be the common wisdom about these things, but for many states you have no way to hide from the lottery -- if you want the money, that is. Case In Point
Good question. Maybe Artist or someone who knows can jump in and help answer that.
Great story, makes you wonder about all the ways an "illegal" lottery ticket purchase can be made?
I am sure we'll see many more states follow suit.
I sure hope you're right sully16.
this is from the 2013 Winner's Handbook from the California Lottery website: http://www.calottery.com/win/winners-handbook
"There will be immediate interest in your story. History tells us the media will likely attempt to contact you. Their efforts are made easier in this day of internet search engines. With that in mind, we urge you to consider taking part in a news conference. We’ll take the headache away by doing the planning for you. Winners have been better able to satisfy these media requests in one shot and get on with their lives"
It says they "urge" you to take part in the news conference. Which means the news conference is optional.
Here is other quotes from the first page:
"You can form a trust prior to claiming your prize, but understand that your name is still public and reportable."
"According to public disclosure laws, your name is public record. The name and location of the retailer who sold the winning ticket, the date you won, whether your numbers were a Quick Pick® or your own numbers and the amount of your winnings are also matters of public record and are subject to disclosure."
If this law passes I'll pack up the truck and move the 3 miles to Missouri.Heck,most of the people who work in my hometown live in Missouri or Illinois as it is.Taxes in Missouri are cheaper than Iowas on lottery winnings,too.
you should move to Missouri. Missouri loves company.
There's gotta be a compromise in this somewhere, where legitimacy can remain, but partial information is provided
Yes: always sign your tickets: your name on your ticket
i already verified this with the Lottery office
whatever you do with any firm will have other documentations for you.
In FL they only report your name, city etc. No Picture is required. Someone with a common name could simply change the address on their license to a different city than where they live, claim the prize with no pictures and deny it was them if anyone asks. Of course if they move quickly after or a new Mercedes shows up in he driveway it will be pretty obvious.....
I hope remaining anonymous becomes the standard for all states with lotteries.
Before Illinois got powerball we used to go to Missouri to play it, might be worth going over the bridge again.
Since the lotteries put these monitors in the stores with winners names and pictures (Illinois) I've wondered if you're not really better off winning in another state where no one knoes you (state lottery, not multi-state games).
At first Illinois put winners' names, amount won, and hometown but now they at least leave the town off. That doesn't do much for anonymitiy in your town of course.
Toronto,
There's gotta be a compromise in this somewhere, where legitimacy can remain, but partial information is provided
The states that allow remaining anonymous don't seem to be having any trouble in that regard.
Yep, Don't want to be famous for any reason, the nuts come right out of the shadows and make people miserable.
I hope this trend catches on. Delaware has been allowing winner anonymity for years. I don't see why other states shouldn't follow suit.
It could happen. We've already had one Missouri compromise.
40,000 comedians out of work and you're trying to be funny.
KY Floyd,
Good one!
____________________
One more thought about states going this route - consider some of the threads there have been here on LP about press conferences and how many people said they would be chomoing at the but to go to one and 'shout it from the rooftops'.
I think there will always be enough winners to provide the lotteries with all the publicity they need so giving others the option of anonymity wouldn't hurt the lottries.
Of course justxploring once jokingly posted a situation in which a jackpot winner sued the lottery over their right to remain anonymouis, won the case, and became famous for doing so!
Lol
"But Philip Smith of the Missouri Lottery told committee members that revealing a winner's identity provides legitimacy to the lottery.
"To ensure the integrity and to have the public have confidence in our games they have to know that people do win prizes by people purchasing tickets," he said."
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
I notice that, according to the LP report card (https://www.lotterypost.com/lottery-report-card.asp), Missouri has all RNGs (or "Rigged Numbers Games" as the slang goes) for all of its own state games.
I like how these guys are all of a sudden concerned with legitimacy and transparency!
HAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHA
How many historical comedians are out of work?
Finally they consider the safety of the winners. I hope there will be no problem with regards to this legislature.
I hope you're right ........wished my state was Anonymous .......ASAP
I guess this is a good thing & all, but is anonymity even needed anymore for lottery winners? Lottery winners are becoming so common anymore that it's not an extraordinary thing. Back in the day your chances of meeting a lottery winner in person were about a slim as meeting the President in person, but now they're all over the place.
I hope they can find ways on how to keep their lottery winners safe if they are going to announce their identity. We need to admit that good fortune attracks bad guys too.