§ 1614. Unclaimed and abandoned prize money. a. No prize claim shall
be valid if submitted to the commission following the expiration of a
one-year time period from the date of the drawing or from the close of
the game in which a prize was won, and the person otherwise entitled to
such prize shall forfeit any claim or entitlement to such prize moneys.
Unclaimed prize money, plus interest earned thereon, shall be retained
in the lottery prize account to be used for payment of special lotto or
supplemental lotto prizes offered pursuant to the plan or plans
specified in this article, or for promotional purposes to supplement
other games on an occasional basis not to exceed sixteen weeks within
any twelve month period pursuant to the plan or plans specified in this
article.

Furthermore, the commission shall not use funds from such lottery
prize account for such payments, as provided herein, in excess of sixty
million dollars in any fiscal year. All unclaimed prize money in excess
of the sixty million dollars spending limitation shall, at the end of
the fiscal year, be paid into the state treasury to the credit of the
state lottery fund created by section ninety-two-c of the state finance
law.

In the event that the director proposes to change any plan for the use
of unclaimed prize funds or in the event the director intends to use
funds in a game other than the game from which such unclaimed prize
funds were derived, the director of the budget, the chairperson of the
senate finance committee, and the chairperson of the assembly ways and
means committee shall be notified in writing separately detailing the
proposed changes to any plan prior to the implementation of the changes.

b. The division may determine that a prize has been abandoned whenever
more than eighteen months have elapsed since a prize payment check was
mailed to the last known address of the claimant and either such check
has been returned undelivered by the United States postal service and
the claimant cannot be located or such check has not been returned
undelivered and has not been presented for payment. Any prize so
determined to have been abandoned shall be paid to the state comptroller
pursuant to section thirteen hundred fifteen of the abandoned property
law.