Section 724 - Prizes - Verification of validity of tickets or shares - Unclaimed prize monies, Okla. Stat. tit. 3A § 724 (2024)

Section 724 - Prizes - Verification of validity of tickets or shares - Unclaimed prize monies

A. Proceeds of any lottery prize shall be subject to the Oklahoma state income tax.

B. Attachments, garnishments, or executions authorized and issued pursuant to law shall be withheld if timely served upon the Oklahoma Lottery Commission. This subsection shall not apply to payment of prizes by a retailer.

C. The Commission shall adopt policies and procedures to establish a system of verifying the validity of tickets or shares claimed to win prizes and to effect payment of the prizes, except that:

1. No prize, any portion of a prize, or any right of any person to a prize awarded shall be assignable. Any prize or any portion of a prize remaining unpaid at the death of a prize winner shall be paid to the estate of the deceased prize winner or to the trustee of a trust established by the deceased prize winner as settlor if a copy of the trust document or instrument has been filed with the Commission along with a notarized letter of direction from the settlor and no written notice of revocation has been received by the Commission prior to the death of the settlor. Following the death of a settlor and prior to any payment to a successor trustee, the Commission shall obtain from the trustee a written agreement to indemnify and hold the Commission harmless with respect to any claims that may be asserted against the Commission arising from payment to or through the trust. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section, any person, pursuant to an appropriate judicial order, shall be paid the prize to which a winner is entitled;

2. No prize shall be paid arising from claimed tickets that are:

a. stolen, counterfeit, altered, fraudulent, unissued, produced or issued in error, unreadable, not received, or not recorded by the Commission within applicable deadlines,

b. lacking in captions that conform and agree with the play symbols as appropriate to the particular lottery game involved, or

c. not in compliance with such additional public or confidential validation and security tests of the Commission appropriate to the particular lottery game involved;

3. No particular prize in any lottery game shall be paid more than once, and in the event of a determination that more than one claimant is entitled to a particular prize, the sole remedy of the claimants is the award to each of them of an equal share in the prize;

4. A holder of a winning cash ticket or share from a lottery game shall claim a cash prize within one hundred eighty (180) days, or for a multistate or multisovereign lottery game within one hundred eighty (180) days, after the drawing in which the cash prize was won. In any Oklahoma lottery game in which the player may determine instantly if the player has won or lost, the player shall claim a cash prize within ninety (90) days, or for a multistate lottery game within one hundred eighty (180) days, after the end of the lottery game. If a valid claim is not made for a cash prize within the applicable period, the cash prize shall constitute an unclaimed prize for purposes of the Oklahoma Education Lottery Act;

5. Any person or persons claiming a lottery prize exceeding Six Hundred Dollars ($600.00) shall provide the Commission with their name, address, social security number or tax identification number, and sufficient valid identification prior to payment of the prize by the Commission. This information shall be confidential for purposes of the Oklahoma Open Records Act, except for the person's first name, city of residence, and prize amount;

6. Any person or persons claiming a lottery prize exceeding Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) shall provide the Commission with their name, address, social security number or tax identification number, proof of social security number or tax identification number, and sufficient valid identification prior to payment of the prize by the Commission. This information shall be confidential for purposes of the Oklahoma Open Records Act, except for the person's first name, city of residence, and prize amount; and

7. Any person or persons claiming a lottery prize exceeding Six Hundred Dollars ($600.00) as a trust shall provide for each person entitled to any portion of the prize their name, address, social security number or tax identification number, proof of social security number or tax identification number, and sufficient valid identification and trust certifications prior to payment of the prize by the Commission except that such information specified in this paragraph shall be confidential and not subject to the provisions of the Oklahoma Open Records Act.

D. No prize shall be paid upon a ticket or share purchased or sold in violation of the Oklahoma Education Lottery Act. Any such prize shall constitute an unclaimed prize for purposes of the Oklahoma Education Lottery Act.

E. The Commission is discharged of all liability upon payment of a prize.

F. No ticket or share shall be purchased by and no prize shall be paid to any member of the board of trustees of the Oklahoma Lottery Commission, any officer or employee of the Commission, or to any spouse, child, brother, sister, or parent residing as a member of the same household in the principal place of residence of any such person. No ticket or share shall be purchased by and no prize shall be paid to any officer, employee, agent, or subcontractor of any vendor or to any spouse, child, brother, sister, or parent residing as a member of the same household in the principal place of residence of any such person if the officer, employee, agent, or subcontractor has access to confidential information which may compromise the integrity of the lottery.

G. Unclaimed prize money shall not constitute net lottery proceeds. The first Seven Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($750,000.00) of unclaimed prize money accruing annually shall be transferred to the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services for the treatment of compulsive gambling disorder and educational programs related to such disorder. All other unclaimed prize money shall be added to the pool from which future prizes are to be awarded or used for special prize promotions.

Okla. Stat. tit. 3A, § 724

Amended by Laws 2023 , c. 332, s. 3, eff. 11/1/2023.

Amended by Laws 2013 , c. 161, s. 1, eff. 7/1/2013.

Added by Laws 2003 , HB 1278, c. 58, § 25, State Question No. 705, Legis. Ref. No. 330, approved at the general election held November 2, 2004; Amended by Laws 2005 , SB 880, c. 365, § 1, emerg. eff. 6/6/2005; Amended by Laws 2007 , SB 513, c. 336, § 2, emerg. eff. 7/1/2007.

Section 724 - Prizes - Verification of validity of tickets or shares - Unclaimed prize monies, Okla. Stat. tit. 3A § 724 (2024)

References