Lotteries in Florida are controlled by the state of Florida. They were started in the year 1988 with the intent of using the proceeds to upgrade the standard of public education in Florida. Voters in the state approved the start of a state-conducted lottery that would help enhance public education in Florida.

Tickets for the Florida lottery are not sold over the Internet. They have to be purchased in person from authorized agents. Anyone above the age of 18 can play the Florida lottery. However, it is important that the tickets are purchased from an authorized retailer based in Florida. The rules of the lottery prevent the organizers, their relatives and the vendors from playing the lottery.

When the lottery results are declared, the winner has to submit the ticket, with personal details filled in on its back, to the organizers. The prize money has to be claimed within a limited period of time that is specified in advance. The time frame for claiming a prize varies from 180 days for online lottery games to 60 days for scratch-off games. In cases, where the prize money has not been claimed within the time frame, the funds are added to a prize-pool for future winnings.

The law in Florida makes it mandatory for lottery organizers to provide a winner?s personal information to any third party who requests the information. This includes details such as the name of the winner, city of residence, game, date won on and the amount. However, lottery winner?s addresses and telephone numbers are kept confidential.

As per the promise to voters, the organizers transfer the profits from the lotteries to the educational institutions in the state. The money is spent predominantly on student scholarships, purchase of books for the state libraries and for the up gradation of the infrastructure. The money collected from the ticket sales is transferred to the Educational Enhancement Trust Fund (EETF) and is granted to the various recipients by the Florida state legislature.