§ 1614 — Unclaimed and abandoned prize money

§ 1614. Unclaimed and abandoned prize money. a. No prize claim shall\nbe valid if submitted to the commission following the expiration of a\none-year time period from the date of the drawing or from the close of\nthe game in which a prize was won, and the person otherwise entitled to\nsuch prize shall forfeit any claim or entitlement to such prize moneys.\nUnclaimed prize money, plus interest earned thereon, shall be retained\nin the lottery prize account to be used for payment of special lotto or\nsupplemental lotto prizes offered pursuant to the plan or plans\nspecified in this article, or for promotional purposes to supplement\nother games on an occasional basis not to exceed sixteen weeks within\nany twelve month period pursuant to the plan or plans specified in this\narticle.\n Furthermore, the commission shall not use funds from such lottery\nprize account for such payments, as provided herein, in excess of sixty\nmillion dollars in any fiscal year. All unclaimed prize money in excess\nof the sixty million dollars spending limitation shall, at the end of\nthe fiscal year, be paid into the state treasury to the credit of the\nstate lottery fund created by section ninety-two-c of the state finance\nlaw.\n In the event that the director proposes to change any plan for the use\nof unclaimed prize funds or in the event the director intends to use\nfunds in a game other than the game from which such unclaimed prize\nfunds were derived, the director of the budget, the chairperson of the\nsenate finance committee, and the chairperson of the assembly ways and\nmeans committee shall be notified in writing separately detailing the\nproposed changes to any plan prior to the implementation of the changes.\n b. The division may determine that a prize has been abandoned whenever\nmore than eighteen months have elapsed since a prize payment check was\nmailed to the last known address of the claimant and either such check\nhas been returned undelivered by the United States postal service and\nthe claimant cannot be located or such check has not been returned\nundelivered and has not been presented for payment. Any prize so\ndetermined to have been abandoned shall be paid to the state comptroller\npursuant to section thirteen hundred fifteen of the abandoned property\nlaw.\n