Arkansas News Bureau  

LITTLE ROCK — A South Carolina lottery official who advised lawmakers in crafting the framework for Arkansas’ lottery will be back in the state to counsel the state commission charged with implementing the games.

At a two-day retreat that begins Thursday on Petit Jean Mountain, members of the Arkansas Lottery Commission will hear from Ernie Passailaigue, executive director of the South Carolina Lottery. He attended a Petit Jean retreat in January to assist Arkansas lawmakers in shaping legislation for the new state scholarship lottery voters approved last fall.

The commission also will hear from Margaret DeFrancisco, president and CEO of the Georgia Lottery, as it considers how to get the Arkansas lottery up and running. Lawmakers have said they expect the first lottery tickets to be sold before the end of the year.

A former South Carolina legislator, Passailaigue led that state’s lottery in 2001 and 2002 through the start-up process and became its first director. Arkansas’ start-up likely will be similar, he said, adding he has provided commissioners with a white paper outlining his initial thoughts for consideration.

“The most important decision they’re going to make is employing an executive director, and that person is going to select the staff,” he said Wednesday in an interview with freelance journalist Roby Brock, Arkansas News Bureau business columnist and host of Talk Business. 

Lottery experience would be helpful but is not singularly critical, he said. 

Passailaigue said his first hire as South Carolina lottery director was a human resources director to deal with thousands of job applications that flooded the office. He warned that political influence would try to creep into the job selection process, also, as elected officials ask for consideration of constituents.

Arkansas Lottery Commission chairman Ray Thornton has said Passailaigue and DeFrancisco will not receive any fee for assisting the commission, but the commission will reimburse them for their travel and lodging expenses. He did not have an estimate of what those expenses would be.

The commission is working with a $6 million loan from the state, to be paid back with lottery proceeds.