242, § 54.
§74-840-1.1. Short title - Content of act. A. Sections 840-1.1 through 840-6.9 of this title shall be known and may be cited as the "Oklahoma Personnel Act". B. All statutes hereinafter enacted and codified within Sections 840-1.1 through 840-6.9 of this title shall be part of the Oklahoma Personnel Act. Added by Laws 1982, c. 338, § 1, eff. July 1, 1982. Amended by Laws 1990, c. 204, § 6, emerg. eff. May 10, 1990. Renumbered from § 840.1 of this title by Laws 1994, c. 242, § 54. Amended by Laws 1997, c. 287, § 1, eff. July 1, 1997.
§74-840-1.2. Repealed by Laws 2022, c. 243, § 27, emerg. eff. May 11, 2022.
§74-840-1.3. Definitions. As used in this act, unless otherwise provided in Sections 840- 1.1 through 840-6.9 of this title: 1. "Agency" means any office, department, board, commission or institution of the executive branch of state government; 2. "Employee" or "state employee" means an elected or appointed officer or employee of an agency unless otherwise indicated; 3. "Appointing authority" means the chief administrative officer of an agency; 4. "Job-related organization" means a membership association which collects annual dues, conducts annual meetings and provides job-related education for its members and which includes state employees, including any association for which payroll deductions for membership dues are authorized pursuant to paragraph 5 of subsection B of Section 34.70 of Title 62 of the Oklahoma Statutes; 5. "Progressive discipline" means a system designed to ensure the consistency, impartiality and predictability of discipline and the flexibility to vary penalties if justified by aggravating or mitigating conditions; 6. "Supervisor" means an officer or employee who has been assigned authority and responsibility for evaluating the performance of subordinates; 7. "Director" means the appointing authority of the Office of Management and Enterprise Services; 8. "Office" means the Office of Management and Enterprise Services; and 9. "Veteran" means a person who has been honorably discharged from the Armed Forces of the United States. Added by Laws 1982, c. 338, § 3, eff. July 1, 1982. Amended by Laws 1986, c. 158, § 6, operative July 1, 1986; Laws 1986, c. 252, § 3, eff. Nov. 1, 1986; Laws 1994, c. 242, § 1. Renumbered from § 840.3 of this title by Laws 1994, c. 242, § 54. Amended by Laws 1995, c. 310, § 1, emerg. eff. June 5, 1995; Laws 1996, c. 320, § 1, emerg. eff. June 12, 1996; Laws 1997, c. 287, § 2, eff. July 1, 1997; Laws 1998, c. 256, § 1, eff. July 1, 1998; Laws 1999, c. 410, § 2, eff. Nov. 1, 1999; Laws 2001, c. 381, § 1, eff. July 1, 2001; Laws 2002, c. 347, § 3, eff. Nov. 1, 2002; Laws 2010, c. 286, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2010; Laws 2012, c. 304, § 868; Laws 2022, c. 243, § 2, emerg. eff. May 11, 2022.
§74-840-1.4. Repealed by Laws 2011, c. 302, § 12.
§74-840-1.5. Repealed by Laws 2012, c. 303, § 21, eff. Nov. 1, 2012.
§74-840-1.6. Office of Management and Enterprise Services - Organization. A. The internal administrative organization of the Office of Management and Enterprise Services shall be determined by the Director of the Office of Management and Enterprise Services in such a manner as to promote the efficient and effective enforcement of this act. B. The Director of the Office of Management and Enterprise Services may employ attorneys, accountants and other personnel as the Director deems necessary to carry out the duties imposed upon the Office. Added by Laws 1982, c. 338, § 6, eff. July 1, 1982. Renumbered from § 840.6 of this title by Laws 1994, c. 242, § 54. Amended by Laws 2005, c. 453, § 1, eff. July 1, 2005; Laws 2012, c. 303, § 5, eff. Nov. 1, 2012; Laws 2022, c. 243, § 3, emerg. eff. May 11, 2022.
§74-840-1.6A. Office of Management and Enterprise Services - Personnel administration. The Office of Personnel Management Division of the Office of State Finance was consolidated into and renamed the Office of Management and Enterprise Services. Where the term "Office of Personnel Management" is used within the Oklahoma Statutes, it shall mean the Office of Management and Enterprise Services. The chief administrative officer shall be the Director of the Office of Management and Enterprise Services. In addition to the other duties imposed by law, the Director shall: 1. Be responsible for the development of an efficient and effective system of personnel administration that meets the management needs of the various agencies; 2. Organize the Office to provide both service and regulatory functions that are effective and efficient in meeting the management needs of various state agencies. The Director is directed to establish an agency service function to assist agencies with human resource needs based upon the administrative capacity and resources of the various agencies; 3. Prepare, maintain, and revise a system of employment designed to ensure the impartial consideration of applicants for employment and to protect state employees from arbitrary dismissal or unfair treatment; 4. Develop and maintain a classification and compensation system for all positions in the executive branch of state government including those established by the Oklahoma Constitution; 5. Conduct an analysis of the rates of pay prevailing in the state in the public and private sectors for comparable jobs and
report the findings to the Governor, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives no later than December 1 of each year. Such analysis shall include all forms of compensation including fringe benefits. Information solicited by the Office of Management and Enterprise Services from public and private sector employers for such analysis, including but not limited to salaries, benefits, and compensation policies and procedures, shall be confidential and shall not be subject to disclosure under the Oklahoma Open Records Act; 6. Assist state agencies in implementing their duties and obligations and provide standard forms to the agencies if necessary; 7. Develop, in cooperation with appointing authorities, employee training programs, management training programs, a certified public manager program, a recruiting program, and a system of performance appraisals, and assist appointing authorities in the setting of productivity goals. The Director may establish and collect fees for participation in training programs. The Director is authorized to purchase awards for presentation to state employees as part of employee recognition activities sponsored by the Office of Management and Enterprise Services; 8. Establish rules for leave and pay including, but not limited to, rules for leave, furloughs, performance pay increases, rates for pay differentials, on-call pay, and other types of pay incentives and salary adjustments consistent with this act and reduction-in- force; 9. Be responsible for the development and maintenance of a uniform occupation code system, grouped by job titles or duties, for all state positions. The responsibility shall include the establishment of rules governing the identification, tracking, and reporting of all state positions as provided in Section 840-2.13 of this title; 10. Be responsible for advising state agencies on personnel policy and administration; 11. Establish standards for continuing training and certification of personnel professionals in the executive branch of state government, excluding institutions within The Oklahoma State System of Higher Education. Employees appointed to professional personnel positions shall complete an initial training program within one (1) year after assuming the professional personnel position. Thereafter, they shall complete annual training requirements. Each appointing authority shall ensure that all professional personnel employees are notified of, and scheduled to attend, required training programs and shall make time available for employees to complete the programs. The Director shall be authorized to bill agencies for the training of personnel professionals pursuant to this paragraph to recover reasonable costs associated with the training. Monies received for such training
shall be deposited in the Human Capital Management Revolving Fund. Expenditure of such funds collected for the training shall be exempt from any expenditure limit on the Office of Management and Enterprise Services established by law; 12. Not less than once during each two-year period, conduct a study identifying the following, by job family descriptors: a. selected jobs with a turnover rate in excess of ten percent (10%), b. selected jobs identified by the Director of the Office of Management and Enterprise Services with salaries and benefits that are ten percent (10%) or more below the market for such positions, and c. selected jobs identified by the Director in which recruitment efforts have yielded a low number of qualified applicants; 13. Establish a workforce planning function within the Office of Management and Enterprise Services to assist state agencies in analyzing the current workforce, determining future workforce needs, and implementing solutions so that agencies may accomplish their missions; and 14. Establish a quality management function within the Office of Management and Enterprise Services and shall assist state agencies in fully integrating quality management concepts and models into their business practices for the purpose of improving the overall efficiency and effectiveness of state government. Added by Laws 1982, c. 338, § 5, eff. July 1, 1982. Amended by Laws 1983, c. 274, § 1, operative July 1, 1983; Laws 1985, c. 46, § 1, emerg. eff. April 23, 1985; Laws 1986, c. 84, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 1986; Laws 1986, c. 158, § 8, operative July 1, 1986; Laws 1986, c. 244, § 1, emerg. eff. June 12, 1986; Laws 1994, c. 242, § 3. Renumbered from § 840.5 of this title by Laws 1994, c. 242, § 54. Renumbered from § 840-2.12 of this title by Laws 1995, c. 310, § 24, emerg. eff. June 5, 1995. Amended by Laws 1996, c. 320, § 2, emerg. eff. June 12, 1996; Laws 1999, c. 410, § 3, eff. Nov. 1, 1999; Laws 2000, c. 336, § 1, eff. July 1, 2000; Laws 2001, c. 213, § 1, eff. July 1, 2001; Laws 2001, c. 381, § 2, eff. July 1, 2001; Laws 2002, c. 22, § 30, emerg. eff. March 8, 2002; Laws 2002, c. 347, § 4, eff. Nov. 1, 2002; Laws 2003, c. 212, § 6, eff. July 1, 2003; Laws 2004, c. 312, § 1, eff. July 1, 2004; Laws 2011, c. 302, § 8; Laws 2012, c. 303, § 6, eff. Nov. 1, 2012; Laws 2016, c. 7, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2016; Laws 2022, c. 243, § 4, emerg. eff. May 11, 2022. NOTE: Laws 2001, c. 348, § 2 repealed by Laws 2002, c. 22, § 34, emerg. eff. March 8, 2002.
§74-840-1.6B. Repealed by Laws 2022, c. 243, § 27, emerg. eff. May 11, 2022.
§74-840-1.7. Repealed by Laws 2025, c. 317, § 8, eff. July 1, 2025.
§74-840-1.8. Repealed by Laws 2022, c. 243, § 27, emerg. eff. May 11, 2022.
§74-840-1.9. Repealed by Laws 2022, c. 243, § 27, emerg. eff. May 11, 2022.
§74-840-1.10. Repealed by Laws 2022, c. 243, § 27, emerg. eff. May 11, 2022.
§74-840-1.12. Repealed by Laws 2022, c. 243, § 27, emerg. eff. May 11, 2022.
§74-840-1.13. Repealed by Laws 2022, c. 243, § 27, emerg. eff. May 11, 2022.
§74-840-1.14. Attorney General as legal counsel - Opinions to officers or employees - Representation of Commission - Conflict of interest - Appointment of alternate counsel. When any officer or employee of the state is in doubt as to the application of the Oklahoma Personnel Act as to himself or to any employee under his supervision, he may submit to the Attorney General a full written statement of the facts and questions he may have. The Attorney General shall then render an opinion to such person and may publish these opinions, or abstracts thereof, with the use of the name of the person advised unless such person requests otherwise in writing. The Attorney General shall be the legal counsel for the Oklahoma Merit Protection Commission and represent it when its decisions are appealed to higher courts. The Office of the Attorney General shall be legal counsel for and represent the Merit Protection Commission notwithstanding its representation of any other state department, agency, board or commission in the same or related matters pending before the Merit Protection Commission or before any court. The Attorney General shall establish internal administrative procedures to ensure that both such agencies are provided independent legal representation, and such simultaneous representation shall not, of itself, be deemed to constitute a conflict of interest. In the event the Attorney General determines an irreconcilable conflict of interest exists, to the extent that he is unable to provide simultaneous representation to both the Merit Protection Commission and another state department, agency, board or commission the provision of Section 18c-2 of this title shall apply. Added by Laws 1982, c. 338, § 32, eff. July 1, 1982. Amended by Laws 1986, c. 158, § 17, operative July 1, 1986; Laws 1990, c. 264,
§ 69, operative July 1, 1990. Renumbered from § 841.11 of this title by Laws 1994, c. 242, § 54.
§74-840-1.15. Repealed by Laws 2022, c. 243, § 27, emerg. eff. May 11, 2022.
§74-840-1.16. Conflicts with federal requirements. A. If any part of this act is found to be in conflict with federal requirements which are a condition precedent to the allocation of federal funds to the state, the conflicting part of this act shall be inoperative solely to the extent of the conflict and with respect to the agencies directly affected, and such findings shall not affect the operation of the remainder of this act in its application to the agencies concerned. B. Notwithstanding any provisions in this act to the contrary, no regulation shall be adopted which would deprive the state of federal grants or other forms of financial assistance, and the rules and regulations promulgated hereunder shall include standards, provisions, terms and conditions for personnel engaged in the administration of federally aided programs, which shall, in all respects, comply with the necessary requirements for a qualified personnel system under the standards applicable to personnel engaged in the administration of federally aided programs. Added by Laws 1982, c. 338, § 11, eff. July 1, 1982. Renumbered from § 840.11 of this title by Laws 1994, c. 242, § 54.
§74-840-1.17. Agreements with municipalities to furnish services and facilities. The Office may enter into agreement with any municipality or political subdivision of the state to furnish services and facilities of the Office to the municipality or political subdivision in the administration of its personnel on merit principles. Any such agreement shall provide for the reimbursement to the state of the cost of the services and facilities furnished. All municipalities and political subdivisions of the state may enter into such agreements. Added by Laws 1982, c. 338, § 12, eff. July 1, 1982. Renumbered from § 840.12 of this title by Laws 1994, c. 242, § 54.
§74-840-1.18. Payment for services – Citizen actions – Employee actions. A. Any state agency for which the Director provides payroll services shall pay for such services at a rate established by the Director, which shall be based upon the cost to the Director of providing such services. Each agency shall remit payment for such services quarterly from departmental or agency funds to the Director
who shall deposit such payments into the Human Capital Management Revolving Fund created in Section 840-1.20 of this title. B. No state disbursing or auditing officer shall make or approve or take any part in making or approving any payment for personal service to any person holding a position in state service, brought under law unless the payroll voucher or account of such pay bears the certification of the appointing authority or designee, that the persons named therein have been appointed and employed in accordance with the provisions of law and the rules promulgated hereunder. The appointing authority or designee may for proper cause withhold certification from an entire payroll or from any specific item or items thereon. Any citizen may maintain a suit to restrain a disbursing officer from making any payment in contravention of any provision of law or rules promulgated hereunder. Any sum paid contrary to any provision of law or any rule promulgated hereunder may be recovered in an action maintained by any citizen, from any officer who made, approved or authorized such payment or who signed or countersigned a voucher, payroll, check or warrant for such payment, or from the sureties on the official bond of any such officer. All monies recovered in any such action shall be paid into the State Treasury. Any person appointed or employed in contravention of any provision of law or any rules or orders promulgated hereunder, whose employment is brought within the terms of law, who performs service for which he or she is not paid, may maintain an action against the officer or officers who purported to appoint or employ the person to recover the agreed pay for such services, or the reasonable value thereof if no pay was agreed upon. No officer shall be reimbursed by the state at any time for any sum paid to such person on account of such services. If the appointing authority or designee wrongfully withholds certification of the payroll voucher or account of any employee, such employee may maintain an action or proceeding in the courts to compel the appointing authority or designee to certify such payroll voucher or account. Added by Laws 1982, c. 338, § 14, eff. July 1, 1982. Amended by Laws 1983, c. 288, § 1, operative July 1, 1983. Renumbered from § 840.14 of this title by Laws 1994, c. 242, § 54. Amended by Laws 2003, c. 212, § 8, eff. July 1, 2003; Laws 2004, c. 312, § 2, eff. Nov. 1, 2004; Laws 2005, c. 176, § 1, eff. July 1, 2005; Laws 2012, c. 304, § 869; Laws 2022, c. 243, § 6, emerg. eff. May 11, 2022.
§74-840-1.19. Repealed by Laws 2022, c. 243, § 27, emerg. eff. May 11, 2022.
§74-840-1.20. Human Capital Management Revolving Fund - Petty cash.
A. There is hereby created in the State Treasury a revolving fund for the Office of Management and Enterprise Services to be designated the "Human Capital Management Revolving Fund". The fund shall be a continuing fund, not subject to fiscal year limitations, and shall consist of fees received by the Office of Management and Enterprise Services for providing training for a certified public managers program and all other monies received by the Office of Management and Enterprise Services. All monies accruing to the credit of the fund are hereby appropriated and may be budgeted and expended by the Office of Management and Enterprise Services for defraying the costs incurred in performing the duties and functions of the Office. Expenditures from the fund shall be made upon warrants issued by the State Treasurer against claims filed as prescribed by law with the Director of the Office of Management and Enterprise Services for approval and payment. B. There is hereby created a petty cash fund not to exceed Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($250.00) for the Office of Management and Enterprise Services. The Director of the Office of Management and Enterprise Services shall prescribe the rules and procedures for the administration of the petty cash fund. C. Any monies in or obligations against the Employee Benefits Revolving Fund and the Benefits Council Administration Revolving Fund shall be transferred to the Human Capital Management Revolving Fund. Funds previously designated for deposit into the Employee Benefits Revolving Fund and the Benefits Council Administration Revolving Fund shall be deposited into the Human Capital Management Revolving Fund. D. The Office of Management and Enterprise Services is hereby directed to pay from the fund the costs of transcribing the record of any proceeding before the Office of Management and Enterprise Services, which record may be designated by an indigent respondent, if such respondent first establishes indigent condition through execution of an in forma pauperis affidavit upon a form approved by the Office of Management and Enterprise Services; provided, that if the indigent respondent has a financial recovery the fund shall be reimbursed from the proceeds. Added by Laws 1988, c. 248, § 7, operative July 1, 1988. Amended by Laws 1994, c. 242, § 28. Renumbered from § 840.5b of this title by Laws 1994, c. 242, § 54. Amended by Laws 2007, c. 342, § 1, eff. July 1, 2007; Laws 2012, c. 303, § 10, eff. Nov. 1, 2012; Laws 2022, c. 243, § 7, emerg. eff. May 11, 2022.
§74-840-1.21. Repealed by Laws 2022, c. 243, § 27, emerg. eff. May 11, 2022.