The city halls of Paraná received legal guidance from the Court of Auditors of the State of Paraná (TCE-PR).
Municipalities are formally instructed not to establish any municipal lottery or approve new local legislation on this market until the Federal Supreme Court (STF) completes the definitive judgment on Claim of Non-Compliance with Fundamental Precept (ADPF) No. 1212.
The guideline was established after the city council of Cornélio Procópio filed a technical consultation to understand whether its Law No. 600/24, which authorized the local exploitation of games, had legal validity or would face direct constitutional barriers.
Why the creation of a municipal lottery comes up against federal limits
The central complexity of this issue involves the division of powers established in the Federal Constitution.
Historically, the STF had already decided that the Union has the exclusive and exclusive competence to legislate on rules for draws and consortia in the country.
Although the Court guaranteed state governments and the Federal District the right to explore lottery services in their territories to boost revenue, city halls were not included in this administrative authorization by Federal Law No. 13,756/18.
Assessing the scenario, the Attorney General’s Office (AGU) argues that the exploitation of games poses serious risks to the socioeconomic order and the protection of minors, requiring extremely rigorous supervision that restricts the operation to the federal and state spheres.
Municipalities only have the prerogative of receiving portions of the financial transfers collected by other government entities.
The waiting period for the judgment at the Supreme Court
When analyzing the specific case, the advisor and rapporteur of the process at TCE-PR, Durval Amaral, openly acknowledged that city halls face tight budgets and that the search for new sources of revenue to invest in sensitive areas, such as health and education, is an urgent issue.
However, the judge highlighted that the rules created in isolation by cities end up invading the exclusive legislative competence of the Union.
As ADPF nº 1212 is currently being processed by the STF, debating exactly the legality and autonomy of these initiatives spread across the country’s municipalities, the Paraná court defined that the most prudent administrative stance is to paralyze any local progress.
The unanimous technical decision recently became final, in April 2026, establishing a provisional jurisprudence that halts the bureaucratic advancement of the sector within the city halls until the final outcome in Brasília.
