A new law allows Oregon Lottery winners to remain anonymous. Previously, a winner’s name was public record under Oregon’s public records law. Now, under House Bill 3115, Oregon Lottery may not publicly disclose a winner’s name and address without the winner’s written authorization.
Background
Since the Oregon Lottery was founded in 1985, winner names, locations, and prizes won were made available to any individual (including members of the press) by means of a public records request.
What Has Changed
Although the Oregon Lottery remains committed to operating with the highest standards of integrity and honesty, the passage of House Bill 3115 exempts the name and address of a winner from disclosure, allowing winners to remain anonymous. The winner’s location (city, state, and zip code) and size of win will still be available, but names of winners will not be publicly disclosed without the winner’s written authorization.
What Hasn’t Changed
The Oregon Lottery enjoys celebrating the wins of our players on social media and elsewhere. Our website, for example, includes dozens of winner stories featuring people who have won prizes big and small. All of these winners have proactively opted to share their story by signing a release giving the Oregon Lottery permission to feature them online or in marketing materials. These features will remain on our site, and winners can continue to opt in to these efforts, as has always been the case.
What Players Should Know
If you win a prize from the Oregon Lottery, congratulations! We will maintain your anonymity unless you sign our release form allowing for your name and/or likeness to be featured in marketing materials or news releases.
Website Changes
Many of our Second Chance players have become accustomed to checking our website on drawing days to see the names and locations of the winners. Moving forward, these listings will include location and prize amounts, but not winner names. If you are a Second Chance player, be sure to keep your contact information updated in your My Lottery account. If you win, you will not find your name on our website, so you’ll want to check your email for winner notifications.
Coming Soon: The Prize Payment Status page will be updated to include a claim lookup tool. By entering your name and other claim details, your prize payment status will be displayed as “In-Process”, “Mailed”, or “Additional Documents Needed” if required to process your claim. Prize payment status updates in real-time and will display the date mailed.
FAQs
Yes, you can remain anonymous regardless of when you bought your winning ticket.
The city, state, and zip code in which you reside will continue to be posted to our website, along with the game name and prize amount. The name and location of the retailer who sold the winning ticket will also be available as public information.
Any winners that appear on our website, social media, or elsewhere, have signed a release form agreeing to be featured.
Second Chance winners will continue to be notified via email, and then U.S. mail if needed, so be sure your contact information is up to date. The Scratch-it title, location of winner, and amount of win will still be posted on the website.
Once the new prize claim status page launches, you can visit to view the status of mailed claims. Payments will be processed and mailed typically within 14 days.
After the law takes effect, a prize winner’s name and address are exempt from disclosure under Oregon’s public records law. Therefore, the Lottery will not release that information in response to public records requests. The Lottery can share non-protected information such as the prize amount, the retailer who sold the winning ticket, and the city, state, and zip code in which the winner resides.