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An Act
ENROLLED SENATE
BILL NO. 1572 By: Rosino, Gillespie, and
Prieto of the Senate
and
Stinson, Pae, and Archer of
the House
An Act relating to the State Commissioner of Health;
directing the Commissioner to conduct certain
feasibility study in collaboration with the
Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse
Services; describing feasibility study; directing the
study to evaluate certain topics; requiring
compilation and submission of certain final report;
amending 51 O.S. 2021, Section 6, as amended by
Section 1, Chapter 303, O.S.L. 2025 (51 O.S. Supp.
2025, Section 6), which relates to officers; creating
certain exemption; providing for codification; and
declaring an emergency.
SUBJECT: State Commissioner of Health
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 1-103b of Title 63, unless there
is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
A. For the purpose of ensuring continuity of services, the
State Commissioner of Health shall, in collaboration with the
Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, conduct a
feasibility study to gather and analyze information and
ENR. S. B. NO. 1572 Page 2
considerations related to a potential consolidation of the State
Department of Health and the Department of Mental Health and
Substance Abuse Services. The feasibility study shall examine ways
the state can improve efficiency, simplify operations, reduce
administrative costs, demonstrate outcomes, and provide quality
services for the residents of this state.
B. The feasibility study shall compare the State Department of
Health and the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse
Services, including a comparison of the areas listed in this
subsection, and shall study health agency consolidation initiatives
of other states. The feasibility study shall evaluate the following
topics:
1. Administrative functions of each agency including, but not
limited to, inventory, organizational structure and capabilities,
management, staffing plans, and operations;
2. Finances of each agency, including:
a. any estimated projected savings to the state through a
consolidation initiative,
b. reliance on federal, state, and other funding sources,
c. cost drivers, and
d. return on investment of programs and services; and
3. Programs offered by each agency, services provided,
populations served, and costs and outcomes related to programs and
services. The study shall evaluate:
a. programs, functions, and services that are
duplicative, complementary, or unique to each agency
and identify opportunities to align programs and
services, and
b. access to and quality of programs and services and
identify any gaps in services.
ENR. S. B. NO. 1572 Page 3
C. The findings of the feasibility study and any
recommendations of the Commissioner shall be compiled into a final
report, which shall be electronically submitted to the Governor, the
President Pro Tempore of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of
Representatives not later than March 1, 2027.
SECTION 2. AMENDATORY 51 O.S. 2021, Section 6, as
amended by Section 1, Chapter 303, O.S.L. 2025 (51 O.S. Supp. 2025,
Section 6), is amended to read as follows:
Section 6. 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,
this state or a political subdivision of this 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;
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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
ENR. S. B. NO. 1572 Page 5
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;
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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 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;
30. A campus police officer who is elected as a member of the
governing board of a town or municipality that is outside of the
town or municipality where the person serves as a campus police
officer; and
31. 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; and
32. The State Commissioner of Health, if he or she is appointed
as Commissioner of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services,
including on an acting or interim basis, for the duration of the
feasibility study described in Section 1 of this act.
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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 31 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.
SECTION 3. It being immediately necessary for the preservation
of the public peace, health or safety, an emergency is hereby
declared to exist, by reason whereof this act shall take effect and
be in full force from and after its passage and approval.
ENR. S. B. NO. 1572 Page 8
Passed the Senate the 14th day of May, 2026.
Presiding Officer of the Senate
Passed the House of Representatives the 6th day of May, 2026.
Presiding Officer of the House
of Representatives
OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
Received by the Office of the Governor this ____________________
day of ___________________, 20_______, at _______ o'clock _______ M.
By: _________________________________
Approved by the Governor of the State of Oklahoma this _________
day of ___________________, 20_______, at _______ o'clock _______ M.
_________________________________
Governor of the State of Oklahoma
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE
Received by the Office of the Secretary of State this __________
day of __________________, 20 _______, at _______ o'clock _______ M.
By: _________________________________