§ 9-17-119 — Prize proceeds subject to attachments, garnishments or executions; validation of winning tickets; prohibited purchases; money dispensing machines; unclaimed prize money

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter,
attachments, garnishments, executions or past-due child support
authorized and issued pursuant to law shall be withheld if
timely served upon the corporation. This subsection shall not
apply to a retailer.
(b) The corporation shall adopt regulations, policies and
procedures to establish a system of verifying the validity of
tickets or shares claimed to win prizes and to effect payment of
the prizes, except that:
(i) No prize, any portion of a prize or any right of
any person to a prize awarded shall be assignable. Any prize or
any portion of a prize remaining unpaid at the death of a prize
winner shall be paid to the estate of the deceased prize winner
or to the trustee of a trust established by the deceased prize
winner as settlor if a copy of the trust document or instrument
has been filed with the corporation along with a notarized
letter of direction from the settlor and no written notice of
revocation has been received by the corporation prior to the
settlor's death. Following a settlor's death and prior to any
payment to a successor trustee, the corporation shall obtain
from the trustee a written agreement to indemnify and hold the
corporation harmless with respect to any claims that may be
asserted against the corporation arising from payment to or
through the trust. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this
section, any person, pursuant to an appropriate judicial order,
shall be paid the prize to which a winner is entitled;
(ii) No prize shall be paid arising from claimed
tickets that are:
(A) Stolen, counterfeit, altered, fraudulent,
unissued, produced or issued in error, unreadable, not received
or not recorded by the corporation within applicable deadlines;
(B) Lacking in captions that conform and agree
with the play symbols as appropriate to the particular lottery
game involved; or
(C) Not in compliance with any additional
specific regulations and public or confidential validation and
security tests of the corporation appropriate to the particular
lottery game involved.
(iii) No particular prize in any lottery game shall
be paid more than once, and in the event of a determination that
more than one (1) claimant is entitled to a particular prize,
the sole remedy of the claimants is the award to each of them of
an equal share in the prize; and
(iv) A holder of a winning cash ticket or share from
a lottery game shall claim a cash prize within one hundred
eighty (180) days, or for a multi-state or multi-sovereign
lottery game within one hundred eighty (180) days, after the
drawing in which the cash prize was won. If a valid claim is
not made for a cash prize within the applicable period, the cash
prize shall constitute an unclaimed prize for purposes of this
section.
(c) No prize shall be paid upon a ticket or share
purchased or sold in violation of this chapter. The prize shall
constitute an unclaimed prize for purposes of this section.
(d) The corporation is discharged of all liability upon
payment of a prize.
(e) No ticket or share shall be purchased by and no prize
shall be paid to any member of the board of directors, any
officer or employee of the corporation or to any spouse, child,
brother, sister or parent residing as a member of the same
household in the principal place of residence of any member of
the board of directors, officer or employee of the corporation.
No ticket or share shall be purchased by and no prize shall be
paid to any officer, employee, agent or subcontractor of any
vendor or to any spouse, child, brother, sister or parent
residing as a member of the same household in the principal
place of residence of any officer, employee, agent or
subcontractor of any vendor if the officer, employee, agent or
subcontractor has access to confidential information which may
compromise the integrity of the lottery.
(f) No lottery game utilizing an electronic or mechanical
machine may use a machine which dispenses coins or currency.
(g) Unclaimed prize money shall be used to offset prize
expenses. A portion of unclaimed prize money, not to exceed two
hundred thousand dollars ($200,000.00) annually, shall be used
by the corporation to develop, in consultation with the
department of health programs for the treatment of compulsive
gambling disorder and educational programs related to the
disorder.