Section 1770.160  Lottery Tickets

a)         The Director is authorized to prepare for sale to the public such Lottery game tickets as may be appropriate for implementation of the Lottery games offered, from time to time, by the Department, or to offer Lottery game tickets at no charge to consumers 18 years of age or older as a promotional tool.

b)         Each Lottery game ticket shall contain the price of the ticket, the drawing date if appropriate, unique identification validation numbers or ticket symbols, barcode and other information the Director may deem appropriate for security and marketing purposes.  If a Lottery game ticket is being offered at no charge in connection with promotional activities of the Department, the ticket may be stamped with the words "not for sale" or words of similar import.

c)         Any unsigned Lottery game tickets issued by the Director is a bearer instrument and shall be treated as such until a name is imprinted or placed upon the rear portion of the ticket in an area designated for "Name".  Once a name is placed on the rear of the ticket in the place designated for that purpose, the person whose name appears in that area shall be the owner of the ticket and shall be entitled to any prize attributable to that ticket, subject to the provisions of subsection (d) and Section 1770.130(f).

d)         In the event an otherwise valid Lottery game ticket is submitted as a claim for payment, and the Department is put on notice prior to payment of the claim that ownership of the ticket is disputed by an adverse claimant alleging fraud, theft, loss, conversion or any other misappropriation of the ticket by the claimant of record, the Department may withhold payment of the claim for a period of 10 working days after the day the adverse claim was first communicated to the Department.  If a civil action is initiated on behalf of the claimant or adverse claimant in a circuit court of the State of Illinois, or equivalent court of any sister state within 10 working days after the Department has received the notice of adverse claim, the Department shall continue to withhold payment of the prize, or any part of the prize, to the claimant or adverse claimant until an adjudication of the ownership has been rendered by the court, all statutory appeals have been exhausted and, in the case of a judgment entered by the courts of a sister state, the final order has been registered as a foreign judgment in an Illinois court, and all statutory appeals have been exhausted, whereupon the Department shall honor the claim of the prevailing party.  During the course of any such litigation conducted in the courts of the State of Illinois, the Department may interplead and pay into court the prize or, in the case of an installment prize, such installment or installments as may fall due during the course of litigation.  In the event the Department is not notified by written confirmation received by the Department before close of business on the 10^th working day after receipt of the initial adverse claim by the Department, that a civil lawsuit has been filed as provided in this Section, the Department shall honor the claim as filed by the claimant who has presented the winning ticket, and will proceed to process the claim for payment without further reference to the adverse claim.  If a violation of Illinois criminal law is indicated, the matter shall be referred by the Director to the appropriate law enforcement authorities, and nothing in this Section will be construed to require the Department to take any action or pay any claim pending final disposition of any criminal investigation or proceedings.  No interest shall be payable with respect to prize payments made by the Department, its contractor or other agencies authorized to make these payments by direction of the Department.

e)         No claim shall be deemed complete, and no prize shall be awarded with respect to a claim, unless the claimant can and does produce a valid winning Lottery game ticket for the game and prize claimed.  Except as otherwise provided in subsection (d) or Section 1770.130 or, for tickets purchased through a subscription or via the internet, claims not accompanied by a winning ticket will be rejected.  Any claim received by an Agent and unaccompanied by a ticket will be forwarded to the Department.  Upon receipt of any claim, the Department will notify the claimant of the rejection, by certified mail, with notification to be deemed completed if returned undelivered when mailed to the party's last known address with proper postage prepaid.  Notice of rejected claims will be mailed within 10 working days after receipt of the claim by the Department, at its Lottery claims validation unit in the Department offices at 404 North 5^th Street Springfield, Illinois 62702.

(Source:  Amended at 47 Ill. Reg. 13924, effective September 18, 2023)