After the Texas Lottery Commission announced on Monday morning that it would take steps to ban online lottery courier sales, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick issued a sharp rebuke, accusing the agency of years of negligence and calling its sudden decision a political maneuver to avoid further scrutiny.
The announcement came just hours before the Senate Finance Committee is scheduled to take up Senate Bill 28 by State Sen. Bob Hall (R–Edgewood), which would ban online lottery courier sales—raising questions about whether the agency was trying to preempt legislative action.
Patrick made clear in a series of social media posts that the Senate’s investigation into the Lottery Commission is far from over, warning that if confidence in the agency isn’t restored, lawmakers may move to abolish the Texas Lottery altogether.
“In recent years, the Lottery Commission has repeatedly said they could not regulate their so-called ‘courier’ services they themselves allowed to enter Texas and refused to regulate,” Patrick wrote on X. “Suddenly, this morning, only six days after I investigated a combined retail and courier operation in person that sold an $83 million winning lottery ticket last week, the Commission quickly announced they would end all courier services.”
Patrick later said he had “never read so much garbage from a state agency press release in my 18 years in office.” He slammed the commission’s sudden reversal after years of claiming it had no regulatory authority over couriers, saying that today’s ban proves it had oversight power all along—but simply refused to use it.
“It was just two weeks ago in Senate Finance that they hesitated to answer direct questions from members about their concerns about the Texas Lottery,” Patrick wrote. “Only when pressed did they acknowledge there may have been money laundering through the Texas Lottery.”
His comments follow growing concerns over the integrity of the agency, which allowed unregulated courier services to sell lottery tickets online for years. These companies operate by purchasing tickets from licensed retailers and selling them to customers through mobile apps—something Patrick argues is already illegal under Texas law, which prohibits lottery sales by telephone.
“The truth is, the only reason the Lottery Commission acted today was clearly because I exposed the courier services and the Commission when I showed up at one of the courier stores last week,” Patrick wrote. “Suddenly, they found religion and now want integrity in their game.”
The controversy came to a head last week when an $83 million Lotto Texas jackpot was won via a ticket purchased through a courier service. Patrick personally visited one of these operations just six days ago, and now, with the commission suddenly banning couriers, he says its motives are obvious.
He also took aim at the Texas House, pointing out that the Senate had already passed legislation in 2023 to ban lottery couriers by a near-unanimous vote of 29-2. He suggested that political forces inside the House had killed the measure, allowing these services to continue operating despite legal concerns. “Someone convinced the House to kill it,” he wrote.
Patrick warned that the commission’s sudden reversal would not stop the Senate from investigating. “If the Lottery Commission thinks this ends our investigation, they are wrong. I promise the people of Texas that we will restore the integrity of the Texas lottery so people can trust its fairness. Otherwise, the Senate will end the Lottery this session.”
The commission says it will revoke the licenses of any retailers working with couriers and will formally propose rule changes at its March 4 meeting to reinforce the ban.
While executive director Ryan Mindell framed the decision as a move to protect the integrity of the lottery, critics—including Patrick—argue it’s merely an attempt to get ahead of the scandal.
