The search for a new director for the Arkansas Lottery is over. Bishop Woosley, the lottery’s chief legal counsel, has been hired to fill the position vacated by Ernie Passailaigue about four months ago. Click here to read more about it.
As reported by the Arkansas News Bureau, the following candidates are being considered for the Arkansas Lottery’s next director:
—Richard Knight, who has served as CEO and president of Presque Isle Downs, a Pennsylvania thoroughbred track; executive vice president of Hollywood Casino Corp.; and senior vice president, chief operating officer and chief financial officer of the casino and hotel company Bally’s.
—Charles McIntyre, director of the New Hampshire Lottery, former assistant director and general counsel for the Massachusetts Lottery and former Massachusetts assistant district attorney.
—Bob Nash, senior adviser with James Lee Witt Associates of Washington, D.C. His past positions include deputy campaign manager for Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential bid, adviser to Bill Clinton as both governor and president, and president of the Arkansas Development Finance Authority.
—Joan Schoubert, a former senior vice president of the Georgia Lottery and former games accounting manager for the Florida Lottery.
—Bill Stovall, chief of staff for the Arkansas House of Representatives, owner of a Quitman convenience store — that does not sell lottery tickets — and a former Arkansas House speaker.
—Edwin Van Petten, former director of the Kansas Lottery and a former Kansas assistant attorney general.
—Bishop Woosley, chief counsel for the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery and a former Arkansas assistant attorney general.
The extraordinarily high pay of the Arkansas Lottery’s director has been a topic of discussion ever since the lottery was established—former director Ernie Passailaigue made $324,000 a year. Now, as the Lottery Commission considers new candidates for director, they have taken a positive step towards reforming the position. The commission voted today to set the position’s annual salary at a maximum of $175,000.