MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) -- The West Virginia Lottery worked Monday to confirm that eight women in the Monongalia County Sheriff's Department Tax Office hold a winning Powerball ticket worth $276.3 million.

Lottery spokeswoman Libby White said her agency has been in touch with the co-workers who claim to hold the winning ticket from Saturday's drawing.

The ticket must be validated before the eight can be declared winners, White said. The Lottery has scheduled a news conference for Tuesday afternoon.

Lottery Director John Musgrave talked Monday to Linda Fominko, the office's chief tax deputy, who is one of the eight.

"They have sought professional advice and seem to be well prepared," White said.

The women declined interviews Monday, quietly serving taxpayers as sheriff's deputies kept watch.

Saturday's jackpot was the seventh largest win in Powerball history.

Powerball is played in 29 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The record jackpot was $365 million won by eight workers at a Nebraska meatpacking plant in February 2006.

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