Wisconsin Statutes

Wis. Stat. § 565.27 (2026)

Lottery games

✓ current as of July 2026
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565.27565.27Lottery games.
565.27(1)(1)Game features and procedures. Subject to this section, the rules promulgated under s. 565.02 (3) (d) and (4) (a) and approval by the secretary of revenue, the administrator shall determine the particular features of and procedures for each lottery game offered. The features and procedures shall be in writing, shall be accessible to the public and shall include all of the following:
565.27(1)(a)(a) The theme and name of the game.
565.27(1)(b)(b) The price of lottery tickets or lottery shares and any discount authorized for the price.
565.27(1)(c)(c) The prize structure, including the number and value of prizes.
565.27(1)(d)(d) The frequency of drawings or other winner selections.
565.27(1)(e)(e) The method of selecting winners.
565.27(1)(f)(f) The method of making payment to winners.
565.27(2)(2)Selecting winners.
565.27(2)(a)(a) The actual selection of any winning lottery ticket or lottery share may not be performed by an elected or appointed official or an employee of the lottery division in the department.
565.27(2)(b)(b) If drawings are used to select among winning numbers, to select among entries or to select among finalists, all of the following requirements shall be met:
565.27(2)(b)1m.1m. The drawings shall be random selections of the winning results. The department may employ mechanical, electrical, or computerized drawing methods to make the selections.
565.27(2)(b)2.2. The drawings shall be open to the public.
565.27(2)(b)3.3. The drawings shall be documented with a video and audio recording.
565.27(2)(b)4m.4m. At least annually, for any drawings conducted, the department shall contract with an independent firm to perform an audit of the drawing processes and review technologies employed by the department, security procedures, computer and systems security, and randomly selected drawings.
565.27(3)(3)Ticket and share numbers. Every lottery ticket and lottery share shall have a unique number that distinguishes the ticket or share from every other ticket or share in the lottery game.
565.27(4)(4)Lottery ticket appearance. No name of an elected or appointed official may appear on the lottery tickets of any lottery game.
565.27(5)(5)Notification that prizes in scratch-off game claimed. The department shall notify each retailer when the top prizes in a scratch-off game are claimed and shall provide retailers a sign for display that provides notice that the top prizes for a game have been claimed.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 2 cases, 1999–2015 · leading case: Brown v. State, 602 N.W.2d 79 (Wis. Ct. App. 1999).
Brown v. State, 602 N.W.2d 79 (Wis. Ct. App. 1999). · cites it 3× “, requires DOR to promulgate rules determining the types of lottery games to be offered under § 565.27, STATS., and para. (4)(a) authorizes, but does not require, DOR to implement the provisions of this chapter.”
United States v. Christopher Seifer, 800 F.3d 328 (7th Cir. 2015). “27 (2)(b)(4) by conducting a “lottery” without inspecting the “equipment” before and after the drawing; and (3) juror number 13 probably expected to be the alternate and didn’t pay close attention to the evidence, thus creating an unfair jury panel.”
— Wis. Stat. § 565.27(1) — 1 case
Brown v. State, 602 N.W.2d 79 (Wis. Ct. App. 1999). “, requires DOR to promulgate rules determining the types of lottery games to be offered under § 565.27, STATS., and para. (4)(a) authorizes, but does not require, DOR to implement the provisions of this chapter.”
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