TEXAS — A major lottery courier company is suing the Texas Lottery Commission (TLC) in order to stop the banning of its services in the state. 

This comes after the executive director of the commission, Ryan Mindell, resigned after receiving backlash from lawmakers. 

Before he resigned last week, Mindell had announced in February that lottery ticket courier services are “not allowed under Texas law” and moved to ban the services by April.

Lotto.com, one of the top lottery courier services in the country, filed the lawsuit on Thursday in Travis County. 

The Coalition of Texas Lottery Couriers, of which Lotto.com is a member, said the suit “lays bare the inconsistency and lack of accountability demonstrated by the TLC regarding the issue of lottery couriers,” according to a statement. 

“The petition clearly explains how lottery couriers have been legally operating for years in Texas with the knowledge, permission and guidance of the TLC,” the statement said. 

Couriers, which are third-party services for buying lottery tickets online, have been under scrutiny over the past couple of years. 

A Houston Chronicle investigation found that a single player using a courier service purchased every number combination to win a $95 million Lotto Texas jackpot in April 2023. The lawsuit claims Lotto.com warned the TLC about the issue beforehand.

“The agency ignored the warning, bent the rules, and provided the terminals necessary for an international syndicate to game the system by processing 25.8 million tickets to win a $95 million jackpot in April 2023,” the statement from the Coalition of Texas Lottery Couriers said. 

The 57-page suit is asking for the court to issue an injunction to stop the rule change banning courier services in the state, which could take effect as soon as April 29.

A Texas Senate bill also seeks to ban online lottery courier services, which passed the upper chamber unanimously in February.