Anonymous Lottery States

Introduction

Winning a lottery jackpot changes a person’s life in many ways. They suddenly have more money than they could have ever dreamed, and they gain a lot of public attention—most of the time. In some places within the United States, a person who has won the mega millions lottery can choose to remain anonymous. But why would they want to?

The lottery is run by 48 state jurisdictions: 45 states and the  District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Lotteries in the U.S. are operated under the given laws of these different states, there is no universal national lottery in the United States. Two of the most popular and largest lotteries in the U.S. are the Powerball and Mega Millions, and they are offered in almost every jurisdiction.

Powerball and Mega Millions 

Powerball is one of the largest lotteries in the United States. The lottery is available in 45 states and the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The lottery is run by the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL). The game first began on April 19, 1992. Since 2021, there have been drawings held three times a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays. They start at 10:59 pm Eastern Time at the Florida Lottery Headquarters in Tallahassee. Powerball had one of the largest lottery jackpots in world history: $2.04 billion won from a single ticket sold in California in November 2022.

Like Powerball, Mega Millions, originally known as The Big Game, is one of the largest lotteries in the United States. It is offered by 45 states and is available in the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Mega Millions began in August 1996 and its lottery drawings take place at 11:00 pm Eastern Time on Tuesdays and Fridays, including on holidays. The drawing venue is in Atlanta, Georgia, and supervised by Georgia Lottery. $1.537 billion was the largest jackpot ever won with Mega Millions. It was won in 2018, and the winner later anonymously claimed the ticket in 2019.

Public Disclosure Laws

Public disclosure is the act of disclosing information or data and making it available to all. Public disclosure laws apply to many circumstances, including to someone who won the lottery. These laws differ from state to state. Most American states disclose the winner’s information after a lottery game. There are also many states who are only willing to protect the identity of the lottery winner for up to ninety days, so that after that time has passed, information is made publicly available for anyone to check. This information may include the winner’s name, city of residence, the winning date, the game played in order to win, and the amount won.

Other states are very strict regarding the confidentiality of the recipient of major lottery winnings. Some states go so far as to only disclose the winner’s identity with written permission. Others have laws that prohibit the disclosure of a winner’s information altogether. On the other hand, certain states only allow winners of a certain amount of money to remain anonymous, and the sum varies depending on what state you are in.

The states that allow lottery winners to remain anonymous are:

1. Arizona 
2. Delaware
3. Florida
4. Georgia
5. Kansas
6. Maryland 
7. Minnesota
8. Mississippi 
9. Missouri 
10. Montana 
11. New Jersey
12. North Dakota
13. Ohio
14. South Carolina
15. Texas
16. Virginia 
17. West Virginia