Texas Lottery Commissioner Smith Resigns Amid Jackpot Hit, Controversy, Investigation

Texas Lottery Commissioner Clark Smith resigned Friday as the fallout from the $83.5 million jackpot won Feb. 17 via courier service intensified in the Lone Star State.

Smith, whose term was scheduled to expire in 2029, was appointed to the state agency by Gov. Greg Abbott in November 2023. There have been investigations swirling around last week’s win, which picked up momentum and public scrutiny last week after Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick visited the Winner’s Circle retail site where the winning ticket was sold and confirmed it was owned by online courier Jackpocket and its parent company DraftKings.

Patrick said he was not suggesting anything illegal took place, but he was clearly not a fan of the set-up and noted the poor optics the win created. He described seeing multiple lottery terminals in the back room of Winner’s Circle. That was enough for the lieutenant governor, a notable opponent of most types of gambling, to say he would shut down the Texas Lottery if courier services and lotto apps were not banned.

When I say “Jump,” you say “How high?”

The Texas Lottery responded swiftly to Patrick’s ultimatum, releasing a policy statement Monday that “lottery ticket courier services are not allowed under Texas law and that the agency will move forward with proposed rule amendments prohibiting lottery courier services within the state.”

Texas Lottery Executive Director Ryan Mindell said the policy will take effect immediately. Under the amendments that will be proposed at an open meeting scheduled for March 4, a retailer working in tandem with a courier service would have its license revoked.

“The Texas Lottery was established to provide a secure and transparent system for players to purchase tickets in person from licensed brick-and-mortar retailers for the purpose of generating revenue for public education and veterans’ services in a responsible manner.

“As a result of this review and information from recent retailer investigations, the Commission will revoke the license of a retailer that works with or assists a courier service and we are moving to prohibit courier services in Texas to ensure all ticket sales comply with state law and agency regulation as well as to maintain public trust.”

— Texas Lottery Executive Director Ryan Mindell

The Coalition of Lottery Couriers sent Lottery Geeks the following statement on Monday in response:

“Lottery couriers have been legally and responsibly operating in Texas since 2019, while always maintaining a transparent and professional relationship with the Texas Lottery Commission. Throughout this process, the TLC has claimed to have no regulatory authority over courier activities, despite couriers’ persistent requests to be regulated, just as we are in other states. Today’s decision by the TLC to ban lottery courier services is abrupt, disappointing, and unnecessary. We will continue to encourage a regulatory solution, such as the one proposed by HB 3201, which allows our millions of Texas customers to continue to safely and conveniently order lottery tickets using our services.”

Another black eye for the Texas Lotto

Patrick threatening to shut down the Texas Lottery continues a challenging stretch for the state agency. There are still questions regarding the previous large Texas Lotto win, a $95 million jackpot claimed in April 2023 in which a group reportedly used lotto couriers to purchase $25.8 million worth of tickets.

The Texas Lottery Commission faced scrutiny over the method used to win the jackpot as it fulfilled last-minute requests for additional lottery terminals from retailers affiliated with the large buyer. The Houston Chronicle reported Tuesday that multiple state lawmakers have seen a video clip of workers trying to process the large order of tickets from that victory that also includes “children working at the state-authorized terminals … entering and printing out tickets.”

State Sen. Bob Hall, who has filed legislation along with House counterpart Rep. Matt Shaheen to ban lotto courier services in Texas, told the Houston Chronicle he had seen the video but had not authenticated it. The state senator added, “It’s beyond concerning if true.”