AUSTIN (Nexstar) — After multiple state senators accused the Texas Lottery Commission (TLC) of enabling courier services, it has asked the Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office to weigh in.
Since 2019, several lottery mobile phone applications started operating in Texas, calling themselves ‘lottery couriers.’ According to the Coalition of Texas Lottery Couriers, consisting of Jackpocket, Jackpot.com and Lotto.com, “age and location-verified players place orders for lottery games that are fulfilled on a user’s behalf at a licensed lottery retailer in Texas, in compliance with state law.”
At last Wednesday’s Senate Finance Committee meeting, some senators expressed concerns about courier services and the potential role they played in a $95 million jackpot where one group bought over 99% of the available number combinations. Amidst accusations from state senators that recent internal rule changes from the Lottery Commission helped legalize couriers, Texas Lottery Executive Director Ryan Mindell insisted they had no regulatory authority to prevent couriers from operating in Texas. Multiple senators disagreed.
“They’re not obeying the law now, and it’s obvious that they have no intent to obey the law,” Sen. Bob Hall, R-Edgewood, said.
On Friday, the Texas Lottery Commission sent a 10-page letter asking the attorney general’s office if it has any regulatory power over courier services, or if the legislature has to pass legislation to give it that authority.
After arguing its current understanding of Texas law, the commission asks the attorney general’s office:
- Does the TLC have regulatory authority over downstream transactions between a courier
and its customer? - If so, what is the basis for and extent of that authority? For instance, can the TLC revoke
the license of or deny an application from a point-of-sale retailer based on the interactions of a courier with a downstream third party? Can the TLC take any action against a courier
directly for actions taken after the original sale of a lottery ticket? - Would the business activities undertaken by a courier to convey a lottery ticket already
purchased in a sale from a retailer constitute an independent “sale” of a lottery ticket? If
so, would the similar actions of a family member who conveys a lottery ticket to a relative
likewise constitute a “sale”?
