2023 Oklahoma Statutes › Title 51. Officers › §51-6. Officers and deputies not to hold other offices - Exemptions.

A. Except as may be otherwise provided, no person holding an office under the laws of the state and no deputy of any officer so holding any office shall, during the person's term of office, hold any other office or be the deputy of any officer holding any office, under the laws of the state. The provisions of this section shall not apply to:
1. Notaries public;
2. Members of the State Textbook Committee;
3. County free fair board members;
4. Municipal and county law enforcement officers serving in positions as law enforcement officers of both such governmental entities upon such terms and conditions as are mutually approved by resolutions adopted by the board of county commissioners and governing body of the municipality employing such officers;
5. Any person holding a county or municipal office or position, or membership on any public trust authority, who is a member of a board or commission that relates to federal, state, county or municipal government and is created by the United States government, the State of Oklahoma or a political subdivision of the state, except where the duties of the offices or positions conflict;
6. Any elected municipal officers and school board members who are appointed to a state board, commission, or similar entity if there is no compensation for such services other than reimbursement for necessary travel expenses pursuant to the provisions of the State Travel Reimbursement Act;
7. Any trustee of a public trust, who is appointed as a trustee of a different public trust or any trustee of the Tulsa County Public Facilities Authority who may also be employed by the Department of Transportation;
8. Law enforcement officers employed by municipal or county law enforcement departments or agencies, other than those law enforcement officers elected or appointed as sheriff, chief of police or some similar position in which they are the head of a county or municipal law enforcement agency, who are elected to local boards of education; provided, the provisions of this paragraph shall not prohibit any law enforcement officer employed by a municipality having a population of ten thousand (10,000) or fewer people from serving as a member of a local board of education;
9. Any member of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol Division of the Department of Public Safety who is elected to a local board of education;
10. Any employee of the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation who is elected to a local board of education;
11. Any District Supervisor, Assistant District Supervisor, Team Supervisor, Parole Officer 1 or Parole Officer 2 of the Department of Corrections who is elected or appointed to a city council;
12. Any trustee or director of a rural electric cooperative, or port authority who is appointed or elected to a state, county or municipal board, commission or similar entity;
13. County employees who are elected as members of town or city councils;
14. Municipal, county, state or tribal law enforcement or peace officers operating under cross-deputization agreements with an Indian tribe or branch of the federal government;
15. Municipal or county law enforcement or peace officers serving in positions as campus police officers or campus public safety officers pursuant to the provisions of the Oklahoma Campus Security Act, upon such terms and conditions as are mutually approved by resolution adopted by the governing body of the municipality or county and the governing board of the institution of higher education;
16. State law enforcement or peace officers serving in positions as campus police officers or campus public safety officers pursuant to the provisions of the Oklahoma Campus Security Act, upon such terms and conditions as are mutually approved by written agreement between the Commissioner of Public Safety and the governing board of the institution of higher education;
17. Municipal, county and state law enforcement officers serving in positions as part-time or seasonal rangers or peace officers under the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department or the Grand River Dam Authority;
18. Members of the University Hospitals Authority;
19. Any person holding a state or county office or position who is a reserve force deputy sheriff, or a reserve special agent with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control or a reserve municipal police officer;
20. Any person holding a state office or position who serves as a special assistant district attorney without compensation;
21. Any elected or appointed member of a local school board who is a member of a municipal planning commission;
22. Any elected or appointed member of a local school board who is a member or an officer of a volunteer fire department;
23. Directors or officers of a rural water district and chiefs of municipal fire departments or rural fire districts who are appointed or elected to an unsalaried office in a state, county, municipal, school, or technology center school board, commission, or similar entity, except where the duties of the office would create a conflict of interest;
24. Any person who is a dispatcher or confinement officer at a municipal or county jail who is a noncompensated reserve municipal police officer or a reserve deputy sheriff;
25. Any person who is an assistant district attorney serving as a municipal judge or prosecutor;
26. Any park ranger under the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department or any game warden or reserve game warden employed by the Department of Wildlife Conservation who is elected or appointed to a local board of education or to a municipal governing body, board, commission or similar entity;
27. Members of the Oklahoma State University Medical Center Authority, the Oklahoma State University Medical Trust or the State Board of Osteopathic Examiners;
28. Any member of the state Legislature or any state officer who serves on the board of trustees of the Oklahoma School for the Visual and Performing Arts;
29. Members of the Council on Judicial Complaints; and
30. Any person who is a state employee but not a member of the state military forces, including district attorneys, assistant district attorneys, district court judges, associate district court judges and special judges, when detailed as a military trial judge pursuant to Section 826 of Title 44 of the Oklahoma Statutes or when serving as an appellate military judge pursuant to Section 866 of Title 44 of the Oklahoma Statutes when the Military Court of Appeals is convened. The rules of procedure prescribed by the State Judge Advocate pursuant to subsection L of Section 866 of Title 44 of the Oklahoma Statutes shall define what constitutes the Military Court of Appeals being "convened" for purposes of this paragraph.
The provisions of this section shall not prohibit any person holding an office under the laws of the state or any deputy of any officer so holding any office from serving upon the board of Oklahoma Futures or upon the board of directors of the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology. The provisions of this section shall not prohibit a member of the board of directors of the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology from serving upon the board of Oklahoma Futures.
B. Except as provided in subsection C of this section, salaries, emoluments or benefits that would otherwise be paid by the agency or political subdivision to a loaned employee or officer shall instead be paid to the regular employer of such employee. The loaned employee shall in turn be paid regular salary and benefits the same as if continuing regular employment with the permanent employer.
C. Any person excepted pursuant to paragraph 30 of subsection A of this section, when retained as a military trial judge or when serving as a military appellate judge when the Military Court of Appeals is convened, shall be entitled to military judicial leave in accordance with Section 209 of Title 44 of the Oklahoma Statutes.
R.L. 1910, § 4274. Amended by Laws 1929, c. 255, p. 363, § 1; Laws 1939, p. 22, § 1, emerg. eff. April 27, 1939; Laws 1981, c. 47, § 1, emerg. eff. April 13, 1981; Laws 1986, c. 207, § 54, operative July 1, 1986; Laws 1987, c. 222, § 116, operative July 1, 1987; Laws 1987, c. 236, § 128, emerg. eff. July 20, 1987; Laws 1989, c. 357, § 1, emerg. eff. June 3, 1989; Laws 1990, c. 230, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1990; Laws 1991, c. 202, § 1, emerg. eff. May 17, 1991; Laws 1991, c. 298, § 9, operative July 1, 1991; Laws 1992, c. 43, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1992; Laws 1992, c. 373, § 11, eff. July 1, 1992; Laws 1993, c. 331, § 3, eff. July 1, 1993; Laws 1994, c. 2, § 18, emerg. eff. March 2, 1994; Laws 1995, c. 127, § 1, emerg. eff. April 27, 1995; Laws 1996, c. 24, § 5, emerg. eff. April 3, 1996; Laws 1997, c. 317, § 1, emerg. eff. May 29, 1997; Laws 1998, c. 184, § 1, eff. July 1, 1998; Laws 2000, c. 162, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2000; Laws 2001, c. 33, § 39, eff. July 1, 2001; Laws 2001, c. 414, § 6, eff. Nov. 1, 2001; Laws 2002, c. 389, § 2, emerg. eff. June 4, 2002; Laws 2003, c. 387, § 4, emerg. eff. June 4, 2003; Laws 2004, c. 51, § 1, emerg. eff. April 1, 2004; Laws 2007, c. 170, § 1, emerg. eff. May 31, 2007; Laws 2009, c. 453, § 4; Laws 2010, c. 43, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2010; Laws 2012, c. 118, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2012; Laws 2013, c. 288, § 1, emerg. eff. May 15, 2013; Laws 2015, c. 269, § 1; Laws 2016, c. 297, § 1, eff. July 1, 2016; Laws 2017, c. 75, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2017; Laws 2018, c. 304, § 17, emerg. eff. May 10, 2018; Laws 2021, c. 12, § 27, emerg. eff. April 13, 2021.
NOTE: Laws 1992, c. 2, § 2 repealed by Laws 1992, c. 373, § 22, eff. July 1, 1992. Laws 1993, c. 330, § 22 repealed by Laws 1994, c. 2, § 34, emerg. eff. March 2, 1994. Laws 2001, c. 19, § 1 repealed by Laws 2001, c. 414, § 16, eff. Nov. 1, 2001. Laws 2017, c. 114, § 1 repealed by Laws 2018, c. 304, § 18, emerg. eff. May 10, 2018.