| (a) A natural person who is a prize winner of a lottery
prize in an amount equal to $1 million or more, or who is an owner
of a beneficial interest in a legal entity that is a prize winner
of a lottery prize in an amount equal to $1 million or more, may on
the date the winner claims the prize elect to remain anonymous and
prohibit all personally identifiable information from being released
to the public.
(1) A prize winner who elects to remain anonymous must
specify that choice at the time of claiming their lottery prize.
(2) If the prize is paid in periodic installments,
and the prize winner elects to remain anonymous, the commission may
release the prize winner's name on or after the 30th day after the
date the person claims the lottery prize. All other personally identifiable
information is subject to section 466.022(b)(3) of the State Lottery
Act and the Texas Public Information Act (Texas Government Code, Chapter
552).
(b) "Prize winner" means a person who presents a valid
winning ticket, claims a lottery prize, and is recognized by the commission
as the person entitled to receive lottery prize payments. The term
does not include an assignee of a lottery prize.
(c) "Personally identifiable information" means information
that alone or in conjunction with other information identifies an
individual, including an individual's name, social security number,
date of birth, or government-issued identification number such as
a driver's license or passport. "Personally identifiable information"
does not include the name of the prize winner's city or county of
residence.
(d) The amount of a lottery prize is determined by
the total amount of prize money paid to a prize winner for a single
lottery prize claim, before deducting any federal tax withholdings
or other deductions required by law. If a prize winner selects to
receive the cash value option, the amount the commission paid to fund
the cash value option (before taxes and other deductions) will be
considered the prize money paid. In accordance with lottery claim
procedures, all prizes resulting from a single lottery ticket will
be combined on a single lottery claim form and considered a single
lottery prize claim for determining the total amount of prize money
paid.
(e) The commission may release the name of a legal
entity that is a prize winner as well as the name of the authorized
representative of the legal entity (whose name is printed on the lottery
claim form), unless the authorized representative is a beneficial
interest owner of the legal entity and elects to remain anonymous.
(f) A prize winner's choice to remain anonymous under
this rule does not prohibit the commission from requiring, for claim
validation and lottery prize processing purposes, certain government-issued
identification, including but not limited to a driver's license, social
security card, or passport, of all natural persons who are prize winners
or owners of a beneficial interest of a legal entity prize winner.
(g) In certain instances, the lottery prize claim processing
may be delayed and not occur on the same date the lottery claim is
submitted to the commission. In these cases, the day of final validation
and processing of the lottery prize will be considered the "date on
which the claim is made".
(h) The commission may release personally identifiable
information of lottery prize winners to other state agencies or governmental
bodies as required by law.
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