Texas Lottery Commission approves new rules to penalize courier services
AUSTIN (Nexstar) — The Texas Lottery Commission unanimously approved new rules on Tuesday that will revoke the license of any retailer who operates, or works with, a lottery courier service, which allows people to purchase lottery tickets online.
The vote comes more than two months after the former executive director, Ryan Mindell, issued a policy statement saying lottery courier services are not legal in the state. The commission proposed the rule change in March.
The vote happened during a public meeting, the first since Mindell resigned from his position. Before the vote, Commissioner Mark A. Franz said he originally opposed the rule change because he felt the commission had made sufficient changes to prevent another bulk purchasing event, when a single group purchased more than $25 million worth of tickets to nearly guarantee a $95 million jackpot in April 2023.
He originally wanted to wait and see what action the Texas legislature takes, however, Franz said he changed his mind after “weighing the evidence” over the past month. “I am persuaded that this is the right move going forward and that we should do the maximum amount allowable under our current statute, which is what this does,” Franz said.
Feb. 17 jackpot up in the air
The meeting agenda also showed there was going to be a report from Mindell about the Feb. 17, 2025, Lotto Texas jackpot win, where a Texas woman purchased $20 of tickets over her phone and won an $83.5 million jackpot.
The winning ticket was printed at Winners Corner, a retail store in Austin operated by Jackpocket, a courier service. The Texas Rangers are now investigating that win, and the woman who won the jackpot tells Nexstar she has been advised by the lottery commission that she will not see any money until after the investigation ends, and even then, she may not be paid.
The commission decided to table the report since it was prepared by an executive director who is no longer with the Texas Lottery.
Sergio Rey, the CFO of the Texas Lottery, is the acting executive director. Commissioners went into executive session to discuss personnel matters as the fate of the Texas lottery is up in the air.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who has been a critic of the Lottery Commission this year, told Nexstar this week the Texas Lottery is “on life support right now,” but seems confident that even if the lottery stays in Texas, there will not be a Lottery Commission.
“If we have a lottery game, we need to close down the Lottery Commission and turn it over to our department of Texas licensing, TDLR,” Patrick said.
