Florida (Washington Insider Magazine) – The winner of the $1.58 billion Mega Millions in Florida will be able to remain anonymous for only 90 days after claiming the prize.
The foregoing is the result of bill HB 159 approved in 2022 in the state legislature and which entered into force in May of that year.
The provision applies to winners of amounts of $250,000 or more in lottery prizes.
“The Legislature found it a public necessity that the name of the winner of a lottery prize of $250,000 or more be kept confidential and exempt from Florida statutes and Article 1 of the State Constitution for 90 days from the date the prize was awarded. is claimed, unless the winner waives that exception,” read the text of the law.
After those 90 days (about 3 months), the name of the person will be considered public information.
The statute was passed to encourage the safety of lottery jackpot winners.
“People earning valuable prices have been targeted for violent and non-violent criminal acts based on publicly available identifying information. For this reason, the Legislature found that it is a public necessity to temporarily maintain confidentiality and keep the status of that information exempt, ”explains the legislative text.
“The Legislature found that the harm that could result from disclosing the name of the winner of a lottery prize of $250,000 or more outweighs the public benefit that could be derived from disclosing the information,” the document added.
Given these circumstances, the name of the top prize winner from last Tuesday’s draw could be known much later than expected.
According to the rules of the Florida Lottery, the winners of major prizes have a maximum period of 180 days to claim the money at the offices of the entity in Tallahassee.
However, if you prefer that the funds be disbursed in a single cash payment, the claim time is reduced to 60 days.
The winning numbers for the Mega Millions draw on August 8 were: 13,19,20,32,33, and the Mega Ball, 14.
The estimated cash value is $783.3 million.
The $1.58 billion winning ticket was sold at a Publix supermarket in Neptune Beach, in the Jacksonville area. The establishment is located, specifically, at 630 Atlantic Blvd.
This article is originally published on eldiariony.com
