I definitely think that Iowans like to plan ahead based upon the number of questions we receive about the process involved when you win a big prize. Or maybe we’re just a bunch of eternal optimists?
A common thread in that conversation is whether lottery prize winners in Iowa can remain anonymous. The short answer is no. But here are the details:
Under Iowa law, lottery winner’s information is public. It’s possible for individuals, groups of winners or a trust to claim a lottery prize in our state, and all those scenarios have happened through the years. In the case of groups or trusts, the members’ names are released in addition to the name of the larger entity involved.
A recent example is a group of friends from western Iowa who called themselves The Misfits and split a $100,000 prize earlier this month. Their ceremonial check was written out to The Misfits, but the three members of the group also were identified.
The Iowa Lottery will redact sensitive information such as your Social Security number before we release the details, but all other information from the winner claim form is considered public information in our state.
Hi, Terry. I think you must be talking about the Winners page on the Iowa Lottery website where we highlight some of our recent winners. Sometimes a winner shares their story with us but doesn't take a photo with a ceremonial check. In those instances, we just show a confetti image where the winner's photo would be. And Dana, you are correct. State law requires that lottery winners' information is public here in Iowa.
Posted by: Mary Neubauer | April 22, 2021 at 03:18 PM
I agree that publishing the names is setting people up for trouble. Is that something that has to be changed in the legislature?
Posted by: Dana Rinderknecht | April 21, 2021 at 12:31 PM
I have also seen on the website under winners pictures, that a pattern appears there, and their name on top of the pattern. What's with that? I have some family situations that might possibly put me in danger. Maybe not publishing their town just the name and state.
Posted by: Terry Hulbert | April 20, 2021 at 11:11 PM
I agree with Rose⬆️. But would also like more information on just a specific trust or llc type of entity claim, to stay anonymous
Posted by: Amy | April 17, 2021 at 04:09 PM
With the way that the world is these days, I just think that publishing the winners names is making them a BIG target.
Posted by: Rose Keller | April 16, 2021 at 03:34 PM