Eric Hagler, who has served as executive director of the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery since August 2020, submitted his resignation on Thursday.
In a letter dated Thursday to Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration Secretary Jim Hudson, Hagler wrote: "Please accept this letter of resignation from my position as Executive Director of the Office of the Arkansas Lottery and the Department of Finance and Administration.
"Since August 2020, it has been my honor to serve the State of Arkansas and its citizens," he said in his letter that didn't include a reason for his resignation. "I am also thankful for the opportunity to have worked with an outstanding team of individuals who are committed to the Arkanas Lottery's mission of Maximizing Net Proceeds in a Responsible Manner "
Arkansas' lottery is part of the state Department of Finance and Administration.
Scott Hardin, a spokesman for the state Department of Finance and Administration, said Hagler alerted the lottery's staff of his immediate resignation on Thursday morning.
"Secretary Hudson did not make a request for his resignation," Hardin said in a written statement. "Secretary Hudson and Eric never discussed the subject. We wish him the best as he pursues new opportunities and appreciate his service to the state."
Hagler could not be reached for comment by telephone on Thursday.
Hagler wrote in an email to the lottery's employees, "Just a note to thank you for allowing me to serve alongside this group of professionals.
"It has been an honor and I will treasure our memories of achievement and teamwork. It is time for me to move on to the next adventure. I will miss working with Team Lottery, but I am hopeful that you will stay in touch," he wrote in his email dated Thursday at 7:56 a.m.
Hardin said Thursday that the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery's executive leadership team will continue to oversee the day-to-day operation.
"This team, led by [gaming director] Mike Smith and [chief fiscal officer] Jerry Fetzer, had a record year in Fiscal Year 2023 with more than $114 million dedicated to scholarships," he said in a written statement. "Secretary Hudson will remain in close communication with lottery leadership. We don't anticipate an interim director will be named."
Before fiscal year 2023 that ended June 30, 2023, the lottery's previous high for scholarships was $106.6 million raised in fiscal 2021, which ended June 30, 2021. The lottery has been selling tickets since Sept. 28, 2009.
The lottery's revenue in fiscal 2023 totaled $608.2 million, lagging behind the $632.5 million collected in fiscal 2021 that started July 1, 2020, and ended June 30, 2021. In fiscal 2021, lottery officials attributed the performance in part to factors brought on by the covid-19 pandemic, such as people spending more time at home.
Hagler has attributed the record amount of money raised for college scholarships in fiscal 2023 to collecting more draw-game ticket revenue in that fiscal year. Draw-game ticket sales are more profitable to the lottery than scratch-off ticket sales.
For fiscal 2024 -- which started July 1, 2023 and ends June 30 -- the lottery has projected a total revenue of $567.9 million and raising $100.7 million for college scholarships.
In August 2020, then-Gov. Asa Hutchinson appointed Hagler, who had been a financial services attorney, as the lottery's executive director. He had no previous lottery experience. Hagler succeeded Bishop Woosley, the lottery's director from February 2013 until August 2020.
At the time Hagler started working at the lottery, then-State Department of Finance and Administration Secretary Larry Walther said he hired Hagler to lead the lottery because of his experience in financial services managing larger teams. He noted that he knows Hagler's father, Dr. Jimmy Hagler of Little Rock.
"I got a call a month or so ago and he was interested in coming back [to Arkansas], and it was almost concurrent with what is going on with the lottery, so I put him on the list of those that I wanted to interview for that job, and that's how we ended up with him here," Walther said in August 2020.
On Aug. 3 2023, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders appointed Walther to serve as the state's treasurer until 2025 after the death of then-state Treasurer Mark Lowery.
On Aug.7, 2023, the Republican governor appointed Hudson, who was the chief of staff at the state Department of Commerce, as Walther's replacement.
Last week, Jackpot.com, a lottery app and website, announced it had started in Arkansas to allow customers to securely buy state lottery tickets and collect winnings directly from their phone, desktop or tablet.
Jackpot.com is the third retailer approved to sell tickets online in Arkansas, joining Jackpocket and Lotto.com. The three financial couriers approved by the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery are required to operate actual retail outlets in Arkansas,
According to Hagler, no Arkansas Scholarship Lottery rules prohibit or authorize the use of an app-based ordering system for the purchase of hard copy lottery tickets generated through a licensed lottery terminal, but app-based ordering of hard copy lottery tickets is not an iLottery activity.
"The economic uplift of iLottery is best fitted for implementation as a part of the next round of vendor contracts in 2026," he said in a written statement last week. "This ensures that developmental and implementation costs for an omni-channel are spread across a term of years and subject to competitive bid process provided for in the state procurement system.
"This timeframe also allows Lottery management to engage with all stakeholders, including our valued partners in the current brick-and-mortar channel whom we believe can actually benefit from an omni-channel environment," Hagler said last week. "It is important that we get this right, and it must constitute a 'win' for all parties. This is especially true when you consider that we have booked record statistics in [fiscal year] 2021 (total revenue) and [fiscal year] 2023 (net proceeds)."