The Texas Lottery Commission has been dissolved after a 31-0 vote by the Texas Senate. Lottery duties will now be handled by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR).
This comes as the Texas Lottery has been under fire for mishandling couriers, prize winners, and the lottery in general. The mess has compounded so much it now no longer exists.
Back in April, the chief resigned after multiple controversies surrounding the state lottery. This included a European group managing to purchase every possible combination for the $1 ticket offering. Another incident in February involved a woman potentially never seeing her winnings due to using a lottery courier after a rules change was placed.
Lottery couriers will buy the ticket for you, and then manage any processes that come after it. Despite investigations into the matter, the money doesn’t appear to have been released to the winner.
One of the last acts of the Commission was to vote to ban lottery couriers. According to reports, Lotto.com and Jackpot.com were still taking orders over a week after the law was enforced.
Texas lottery overhauled with new rules
The new ruling also brings in laws around the lottery, including fines and penalties if a courier is discovered to be selling lottery tickets through apps and phone calls. If you’re also found to be selling more than 100 tickets at a time, that’s also a potential charge.
The new oversight from the TDLR also aims to bring an element of transparency to the mix. Speaking on the bill, Senator Bob Hall made it clear he wants the TDLR to publish meeting notes on policy, as well as prevent automatic deletion of lottery-related emails.
After years of headaches around the Texas Lottery, it appears the state is finally cracking down on what was killing it. Whether or not spurned winners will see their winnings has yet to be seen.
