The department shall:(1) Have the authority to sue or be sued in the corporate name of the department and to adopt a corporate seal and symbol.
(2) Supervise and administer the operation of the lottery in accordance with the provisions of this act and rules adopted pursuant thereto.
(3) For purposes of any investigation or proceeding conducted by the department, have the power to administer oaths, require affidavits, take depositions, issue subpoenas, and compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of books, papers, documents, and other evidence.
(4) Submit monthly and annual reports to the Governor, the Chief Financial Officer, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives disclosing the total lottery revenues, prize disbursements, and other expenses of the department during the preceding month. The annual report shall additionally describe the organizational structure of the department, including its hierarchical structure, and shall identify the divisions and bureaus created by the secretary and summarize the departmental functions performed by each.
(5) Adopt by rule a system of internal audits.
(6) Maintain weekly or more frequent records of lottery transactions, including the distribution of tickets to retailers, revenues received, claims for prizes, prizes paid, and other financial transactions of the department.
(7) Make a continuing study of the lottery to ascertain any defects of this act or rules adopted thereunder which could result in abuses in the administration of the lottery; make a continuing study of the operation and the administration of similar laws in other states and of federal laws which may affect the lottery; and make a continuing study of the reaction of the public to existing and potential features of the lottery.
(8) Conduct such market research as is necessary or appropriate, which may include an analysis of the demographic characteristics of the players of each lottery game and an analysis of advertising, promotion, public relations, incentives, and other aspects of communications.
(9) Adopt rules governing the establishment and operation of the state lottery, including:(a) The type of lottery games to be conducted, except that:1. No name of an elected official shall appear on the ticket or play slip of any lottery game or on any prize or on any instrument used for the payment of prizes, unless such prize is in the form of a state warrant.
2. No coins or currency shall be dispensed from any electronic computer terminal or device used in any lottery game.
3. Other than as specifically provided in s. 24.112, no terminal or device may be used for any lottery game which may be operated solely by the player without the assistance of the retailer. (b) The sales price of tickets.
(c) The number and sizes of prizes.
(d) The method of selecting winning tickets. However, if a lottery game involves a drawing, the drawing shall be public and witnessed by an accountant employed by an independent certified public accounting firm. The equipment used in the drawing shall be inspected before and after the drawing.
(e) The manner of payment of prizes to holders of winning tickets.
(f) The frequency of drawings or selections of winning tickets.
(g) The number and type of locations at which tickets may be purchased.
(h) The method to be used in selling tickets.
(c) No officer or employee of the department who leaves the employ of the department shall represent any vendor or retailer before the department regarding any specific matter in which the officer or employee was involved while employed by the department, for a period of 1 year following cessation of employment with the department. A violation of this paragraph is punishable in accordance with s. 112.317. (d) The department shall establish and maintain a personnel program for its employees, including a personnel classification and pay plan which may provide any or all of the benefits provided in the Senior Management Service or Selected Exempt Service. Each officer or employee of the department shall be a member of the Florida Retirement System. The retirement class of each officer or employee shall be the same as other persons performing comparable functions for other agencies. Employees of the department shall serve at the pleasure of the secretary and shall be subject to suspension, dismissal, reduction in pay, demotion, transfer, or other personnel action at the discretion of the secretary. Such personnel actions are exempt from the provisions of chapter 120. All employees of the department are exempt from the Career Service System provided in chapter 110 and, notwithstanding the provisions of s. 110.205(5), are not included in either the Senior Management Service or the Selected Exempt Service. However, all employees of the department are subject to all standards of conduct adopted by rule for career service and senior management employees pursuant to chapter 110. In the event of a conflict between standards of conduct applicable to employees of the Department of the Lottery the more restrictive standard shall apply. Interpretations as to the more restrictive standard may be provided by the Commission on Ethics upon request of an advisory opinion pursuant to s. 112.322(3)(a), for purposes of this subsection the opinion shall be considered final action. (19) Adopt by rule a code of ethics for officers and employees of the department which supplements the standards of conduct for public officers and employees imposed by law.
1Note.—A. Section 46, ch. 2023-240, amended paragraph (9)(i) “[i]n order to implement Specific Appropriations 2800 through 2824 of the 2023-2024 General Appropriations Act.”
B. Section 47, ch. 2023-240, provides that “[t]he amendment to s. 24.105(9)(i), Florida Statutes, made by this act expires July 1, 2024, and the text of that paragraph shall revert to that in existence on June 30, 2022, except that any amendments to such text enacted other than by this act shall be preserved and continue to operate to the extent that such amendments are not dependent upon the portions of text which expire pursuant to this section.” Effective July 1, 2024, paragraph (9)(i), as amended by s. 47, ch. 2023-240, will read:
(i) The manner and amount of compensation of retailers.