The Secretary of State of the State of Oklahoma is the chief clerical officer of
Oklahoma and a member of the
Oklahoma Governor's Cabinet. The Secretary of State is the only appointed constitutional member of the
executive branch of the Oklahoma state government. The office of Secretary of State was elective from statehood until 1975 when the Constitution was amended and it became an appointive office, running concurrent with the Governor effective in 1979.
Democrat John Rogers served the longest in office, having been elected three times to serve. He only served eight and one-half years, however, when he resigned just six months after taking office for the third time for a four-year term.
The shortest term of any Secretary of State was just nine days, served by H.G. Oliver in 1915. He was appointed to fill the job after the resignation of B.F. Harrison. He left office when newly elected S.L. Lyon took office on January 15, 1915.
Although she was named as "interim" by Governor
Mary Fallin
Mary Fallin (; née Copeland; born December 9, 1954) is an American politician who served as the 27th governor of Oklahoma from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, she was elected in 2010 and reelected in 2014. She was the first and s ...
and served only one month, Republican
Michelle Day is considered the 31st Secretary of State.
Constitutional requirements
The
Oklahoma Constitution sets the requirements to hold the office of Secretary of State: the appointee must be a citizen of the State of Oklahoma, at least thirty-one years of age and a resident of the United States for ten years, the same as all high-level executive branch officials.
Appointment
The
Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
appoints, with confirmation by the
Oklahoma Senate, the Secretary of State to serve a four-year term that runs concurrently with the term of the Governor. As the office is not elective (the only appointive constitutional office in Oklahoma), a Secretary of State may succeed himself/herself in office as many times as the Governor-elect appoints and the state Senate confirms him or her.
Official duties
Executive functions
The Secretary of State is required by law to attest to the Governor's signature and to file all the official acts of the Governor. Executive orders, appointments and proclamations signed and issued by the Governor are certified and distributed by the Secretary of State. Original certificates of
pardons and
parole
Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...
s, including revocation of same are recorded and filed in the Office of the Secretary of State.
Extradition
Extradition is an action wherein one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, over to the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdi ...
s, both foreign and domestic, are also recorded and maintained by the Secretary. The office is the custodian of the
Seal of Oklahoma
The Great Seal of the State of Oklahoma consists of a five-pointed star in a circle. According to a statute adopted in 1957, the flag of the governor of Oklahoma consists of a forest green field, fringed in gold, charged with the state seal surro ...
. The Secretary of State is an ''
ex officio'' member of the
Oklahoma Governor's Cabinet.
As required by the Oklahoma Administrative Procedures Act and Executive Order 88-16, the Secretary of State is responsible for overseeing and operating the Office of Administrative Rules (OAR). ORA files all rules, rule making notices, and executive orders issued by all state agencies and the Governor. OAR collects all such rules and represents them to the Governor for his approve or disapproval. With very limited exceptions, no agency rule may be enforced until it is filed with OAR, approved by the Governor, and then published by OAR.
The most important, though ceremonial, function of the Secretary of State is to "sacredly preserve" the original
State Constitution signed in 1907.
Legislative functions
After legislation has been passed and signed by the Governor, along with the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House, the Secretary of State is required to fill and record the original acts in the Office of the Secretary of State. Each act is designated a chapter number and published in the Oklahoma Session Laws and the Oklahoma Statutes. The Secretary of State is also required to distribute copies of all new laws, as soon as possible, to each of the seventy-seven County Court Clerks. The original acts and resolutions are bound into volumes and then preserved by the Secretary's office.
Any and all
initiative
In political science, an initiative (also known as a popular initiative or citizens' initiative) is a means by which a petition signed by a certain number of registered voters can force a government to choose either to enact a law or hold a ...
s,
petition
A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer called supplication.
In the colloquial sense, a petition is a document addressed to some offi ...
s, and
referendum
A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...
(called ''State Questions'') are filled with the Secretary and addressed to the Governor. After circulation of the petition, the Secretary's office counts and binds the signature pamphlets. If the signatures are sufficient, the state question is placed on the ballot for a vote of the people. New laws adopted by the people are published in the Oklahoma Statutes or Oklahoma Constitution and are immune from override by the Oklahoma Legislature, Governor of Oklahoma, or the Oklahoma Supreme Court.
Judicial functions
Under the provision of the Oklahoma Constitution, the judges of any court exercising judicial power shall be subject to removal from office, or to compulsory retirement from office by the
Oklahoma Court on the Judiciary {{OKGovernment
The Oklahoma Court on the Judiciary is one of the two independent courts in the Oklahoma judiciary and has exclusive jurisdiction in adjudicating discipline and hearing cases involving the removal of a judge from office, excluding the ...
. The Secretary of State is required to determine and designate five district judges to serve on the Appellate Division and eight district judges to serve on the Trial Division of the Court on Judiciary. Every odd-numbered year this office is responsible for organizing the meeting for the Court on Judiciary to make or amend their rules of procedure as mandated by the Oklahoma Constitution.
Certification functions
The main duties of the Secretary of State revolve around filling, recording, and certification of miscellaneous items. They include:
*Persons wishing to form a
corporation
A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and ...
,
limited partnership or
limited liability company
A limited liability company (LLC for short) is the US-specific form of a private limited company. It is a business structure that can combine the pass-through taxation of a partnership or sole proprietorship with the limited liability of ...
register in the Office of the Secretary of State. Foreign corporations (those formed in other states or countries) who desire to transact business in Oklahoma must also file in this office.
*The Secretary's department issues
trademark
A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from othe ...
renewals, assignments and cancellations.
*The Secretary of State appoints and commissions
notaries public. Each notary public is required to file a $1,000
surety bond with the court clerk in their county of residence. Once this bond is filed, the court clerk sends the bond to the Secretary of State where it is recorded and filed.
*Every officer of a state agency, board, commission, court, institution, and the state legislature, before entering upon the duties of office, is required to file an oath of office and a
loyalty oath
A loyalty oath is a pledge of allegiance to an organization, institution, or state of which an individual is a member. In the United States, such an oath has often indicated that the affiant has not been a member of a particular organization or ...
with the Secretary of State.
*All state agencies, boards, commissions and public trusts are required to file in the Office of the Secretary of State all meeting notices, including cancellations, postponements and rescheduling of meeting in compliance with state open meeting laws.
*The Secretary of State acts as
registered agent
In United States business law, a registered agent (also known as a resident agent, statutory agent, or agent for service of process) is a business or individual designated to receive service of process (SOP) when a business entity is a party ...
for all foreign corporations, limited partnerships and limited liability companies unless an additional agent has been appointed. The Secretary of State also acts as registered agent for any domestic corporation whose agent has resigned.
*Every
mortgage
A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law jurisdicions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners to raise funds for any ...
,
deed of trust, and instruments supplementary thereto of a public service corporation covering any real or personal property situated in this state made to secure any indebtedness incurred pursuant to law, shall be executed and acknowledged in the same manner as conveyances of real estate and shall be recorded or files with the Secretary of State.
*Every invention developer rendering or offering to render invention development services shall maintain a surety bond equal to either ten percent (10%) of the invention developer's gross income from the invention development business in this state during the invention developer's preceding fiscal year, or twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000), whichever is larger. A copy of the bond shall be approved by the Attorney General and filed in the Office of the Secretary of State before the invention developer renders or offers to render invention development services in this state.
*Every mineral owner or lessee who is engaged in drilling or preparing to
drill for oil or gas is required to file a corporate surety bond,
letter of credit
A letter of credit (LC), also known as a documentary credit or bankers commercial credit, or letter of undertaking (LoU), is a payment mechanism used in international trade to provide an economic guarantee from a creditworthy bank to an ex ...
from a banking institution, cash, or a
certificate of deposit with the Secretary of State in the sum of $25,000. The Secretary of State is required by law to file and record each bond filed.
*Required to file and/or certify policy statements of each public institution of higher education. Personality rights as successor-in-interest, public trust indentures and amendments thereto, preliminary and final official statements, facsimile signatures.
Office of the Secretary of State
Organization
*Secretary of State
**Administration Division
**Accounting Division
**Information Services Division
**Central Filing Division
**Notary Division
**Business Services Division
**Executive and Legislative Services Division
**Office of Administrative Rules
The Office of Administrative Rules (OAR) is one of the most important offices within the Office of the Secretary of State. OAR files state agency rules, rulemaking notices, executive orders and compiles those rules, rulemaking notices, executive orders, and local project announcements for publication in The Oklahoma Register, which OAR publishes semi-monthly. OAR is also responsible for compiling and codifying the
permanent rules and executive orders for publication in The Oklahoma Administrative Code (OAC). OAC is the codification of the general and permanent rules and regulations issued by the executive departments and agencies of the state government. OAR publishes the OAC in annual supplements.
Staff
The Office of the Secretary of State, with an annual budget of over $4 million, is one of the smaller employers of the State. For fiscal year 2011, the Office was authorized 37 full-time employees.
[FY 2011 State Budget](_blank)
Oklahoma Office of State Finance
The Oklahoma Office of Management and Enterprise Services (OMES) is a government agency which manages and supports the basic functioning of the government of Oklahoma. Under the leadership of the Oklahoma Secretary of Agency Accountability, OMES p ...
Budget
The Office of the Secretary of State's budget is generated primarily be fees it generates from the entities it regulates.
Agency fees make up 90% ($3.8 million) with the remaining 10% ($0.4 million) coming from annual appropriations from the
Oklahoma Legislature
The Legislature of the State of Oklahoma is the state legislative branch of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The Oklahoma House of Representatives and Oklahoma Senate are the two houses that make up the bicameral state legislature. There are 101 ...
.
For fiscal year 2011, each of the operating units of the Bureau operate with the following budgets:
Salary
The annual salary of the Secretary of State is set by law at $90,000.
Agencies overseen
The Secretary of State oversees the following state entities:
*
Oklahoma Council on Judicial Complaints
The Oklahoma Council on Judicial Complaints is an agency of the state of Oklahoma that investigates allegations of judicial misconduct and can recommend a judge be reprimanded by the Oklahoma Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of Oklahoma is a c ...
*
Oklahoma State Election Board
The Oklahoma State Election Board is the governing body regarding elections in the state of Oklahoma. The Board is responsible for maintaining uniformly in the application, operation and interpretation of State and Federal election laws. Addition ...
*
Oklahoma Ethics Commission
The Oklahoma Ethics Commission is an agency of the state of Oklahoma that issues rules on the ethical conduct for state elected officials and employees. It also investigates and prosecutes violations of its rules. The Ethics Commission was created ...
*
Oklahoma Judicial Nominating Commission
*
Oklahoma Department of Libraries
Oath of office
"I, . . . . . . . , do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support, obey, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and the Constitution of the State of Oklahoma, and that I will not, knowingly, receive, directly or indirectly, any money or other valuable thing, for the performance or nonperformance of any act or duty pertaining to my office, other than the compensation allowed by law; I further swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully discharge my duties as Secretary of State of Oklahoma to the best of my ability."
Officeholders
Statewide election (1907–1975)
Gubernatorial appointment (1975–present)
See also
*
List of company registers
This is a list of official business registers around the world.
There are many types of official business registers, usually maintained for various purposes by a state authority, such as a government agency, or a court of law. In some cases, ...
References
External links
Official Secretary of State of Oklahoma WebpageList of Former Secretaries
{{U.S. State Secretaries of State
Oklahoma State Cabinet
*