Ark. panel picks S.C. man as lottery director

LITTLE ROCK The Arkansas Lottery Commission has picked its first executive director, tapping the head of South Carolina's games to lead the state's nascent lottery.

After two and a half hours in executive session Friday, the commission announced it had hired Ernie Passailaigue as executive director. The commission says he'll be paid $324,000, and that salary requires legislative approval.

"My goal is not to sell lottery tickets to every adult breathing in Arkansas," Passailaigue said via conference call. "My goal is to make sure this lottery is run with the highest degree of integrity, to make sure that this lottery is not injurious to the people of Arkansas that at the end of the day the people will look back on this five or ten years from now and say this has been a positive part of the life of the people of Arkansas."

Voters approved the games last November, and lawmakers spent months this spring setting up a framework for the lottery and the scholarship program it will fund. Passailaigue, 61, is a native of Charleston, S.C. He served for 13 years in the South Carolina Senate before resigning in 2001 to serve as that state's lottery leader.

Arkansas Lt. Gov. Bill Halter, who championed the lottery amendment, released a statement commending the commission's choice.

"Ernie Passailaigue has earned the respect of his colleagues in the lottery business," Halter said. "He has served as president of the North American State and Provincial Lottery Association, chairman of the Powerball group and vice president of the Multistate Lottery Association. ... Hiring an experienced executive director is a major step on the path to getting a lottery up more quickly because it eliminates the need for on-the-job training."

Tim Madden, chairman of the South Carolina Education Lottery, released his own statement.

"Ernie has done a tremendous job as executive director," he said. "Each year since the lottery's creation, SCEL has surpassed the transfer estimate established by the General Assembly. Ernie will be missed by both the members of the commission and his staff; and we wish him well."

The nine-member lottery commission began reviewing applications for executive director Monday, the same day University of Central Arkansas interim president Tom Courtway said he was withdrawing his application for the post. Sen. Terry Smith, the lead sponsor of the law setting up the lottery commission, said Thursday he was hearing increasing complaints from the public about the pace of the commission's work in finding a director.

Last month, Passailaigue and the head of the Georgia lottery met with Arkansas lottery commissioners at a retreat at Petit Jean State Park to talk about the games. Commission Chairman Ray Thornton said his panel reached out to Passailaigue about becoming director after it was unsatisfied with other options.

Passailaigue is set to start July 1, and Thornton said the new director is planning on a five-year commitment. Officials have said they hope lottery tickets can be sold by the end of this year.

"I may be overly optimistic, and I may get Ernie breathing down my neck, but I'm looking now at the holiday season," Thornton said.

Under the lottery law passed this spring, most of the major decisions on setting up the games fall on the commission, which was appointed by Gov. Mike Beebe and legislative leaders. The executive director will oversee the day-to-day operation of the lottery.

The commission also will decide what types of games to include in the lottery, and whether to join multistate games such as Powerball or Mega Millions. Passailaigue received permission from the commission to start discussions with those multistate games immediately.