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An Act
ENROLLED SENATE
BILL NO. 2117 By: Murdock of the Senate
and
Archer of the House
An Act relating to the State Board of Agriculture;
amending 2 O.S. 2021, Section 2-4, which relates to
the powers of Board; modifying certain authority;
updating statutory language; and declaring an
emergency.
SUBJECT: Powers of the State Board of Agriculture
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 2 O.S. 2021, Section 2-4, is
amended to read as follows:
Section 2-4. A. The State Board of Agriculture shall have the
power to:
1. Adopt and prescribe the use of a seal, which shall be in the
custody of the Secretary of the Board;
2. Promulgate rules necessary, expedient, or appropriate to the
performance, enforcement, or carrying out of any of the purposes,
objectives, or provisions of the Oklahoma Agricultural Code;
3. Initiate and prosecute administrative, civil, or criminal
actions and proceedings necessary under the Oklahoma Agricultural
Code;
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4. Appoint authorized agents to make inspections or
investigations and to perform other services for the Board or any
division of the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and
Forestry;
5. Consolidate any of the divisions established by the Oklahoma
Agricultural Code, transfer any of the functions or activities to
another division, place additional functions or activities in a
division, establish new divisions, and create new or additional
positions in the Department, when conducive to a more efficient
administration and enforcement of laws pertaining to agriculture;
6. Sell, exchange, or dispose of property;
7. Have jurisdiction over all matters affecting animal
industry, animal health, and animal quarantine;
8. Issue stop-sale and stop-use orders and quarantines;
9. Employ, appoint, or contract and fix the duties and
compensation of the director of each division of the Department and
other personnel, either on a full-time, part-time, or contractual
basis, as deemed necessary by the Board;
10. Fix the qualifications of the personnel in the Department;
11. Accept and use grants of money and other property from any
source;
12. Advise, consult, cooperate, and enter into agreements or
contracts with persons as defined in the Oklahoma Agricultural Code;
13. Coordinate with the federal government and other states on
matters pertaining to agriculture;
14. Revoke, suspend, or deny for up to one (1) year, any
license, permit, or charter issued by the Board if the Board finds
any violations of the Oklahoma Agricultural Code or any rule of the
Board;
15. Adopt a master plan and promulgate rules for the protection
of state-owned and private forestry, grazing, and other lands from
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damage by fire and for suppressing fires on lands. In carrying out
the master plan the Board is authorized to enter into contractual
agreements with the federal government, local political subdivisions
of the state, individuals, private organizations, companies, and
corporations for protection and for the suppression of fires and to
expend funds as available for these services. To effectuate the
purposes of the Oklahoma Agricultural Code, the Board is authorized
to enter into contractual agreements with private landowners for the
protection and suppression of fires, provided that the private
landowners reimburse the Board for actual expenses incurred in the
protection and suppression of fires on privately owned lands;
16. Have jurisdiction over all matters affecting agriculture as
contained and set out in the Oklahoma Agricultural Code, which have
not been expressly delegated to another state or federal agency and
be responsible for fully implementing and enforcing the laws and
rules within its jurisdictional areas of environmental
responsibility.
a. The Department of Environmental Quality shall have
environmental jurisdiction over:
(1) commercial manufacturers of fertilizers, grain
and feed products, and chemicals, and over
manufacturing of food and kindred products,
tobacco, paper, lumber, wood, textile mill, and
other agricultural products,
(2) slaughterhouses, but not including feedlots at
these facilities, and
(3) aquaculture and fish hatcheries, including, but
not limited to, discharges of pollutants and
storm water to waters of the state, surface
impoundments and land application of wastes and
sludge, and other pollution originating at these
facilities.
b. Facilities storing grain, feed, seed, fertilizer, and
agricultural chemicals that are required by federal
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
(NPDES) regulations to obtain a permit for storm water
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discharges shall only be subject to the jurisdiction
of the Department of Environmental Quality with
respect to storm water discharges;
17. Have jurisdiction over all matters affecting the
importation, health, and quarantining of exotic livestock;
18. Prescribe forms of application, certification, licenses,
charters, and other forms and blanks as may be necessary to carry
out the provisions of the Oklahoma Agricultural Code;
19. Stagger throughout the year the renewal dates for any
licenses or permits issued by the Department pursuant to the
provisions of the Oklahoma Agricultural Code by notifying licensees
in writing of the expiration and renewal date being assigned to the
licensee and permittee and by making an appropriate adjustment in
the fee charged for the license or permit;
20. Establish and collect fees for licenses, permits, charters,
and services provided. The fees shall be promulgated in accordance
with the Administrative Procedures Act and shall be fair and
equitable to all parties concerned;
21. Establish planting and harvesting seasons for the purpose
of meeting the maximum driving and on-duty time exemptions set forth
in the National Highway System Designation Act of 1995. The Board
shall notify the United States Secretary of Transportation of the
seasons;
22. Fix and adopt official standards for grading and
classifying any agricultural commodity, meat, or meat product
prepared, produced, or distributed in Oklahoma this state;
23. Promulgate rules, make investigations, and conduct hearings
for the purpose of making inspection compulsory on any agricultural
commodity and designate the shipping points where compulsory
inspection applies;
24. Inspect agricultural commodities, at any time, upon request
of any financially interested party or when necessary and to issue
certificates showing the quality and condition of the commodities at
the time of the inspection;
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25. Grade meat or meat products upon the request of any packing
plant in Oklahoma this state. The packing plant shall be required
to pay the cost of services, including the compensation and expenses
of personnel employed to perform the actual grading;
26. Apply to the district court for a temporary or permanent
injunction or any other remedy restraining any person from violating
the Oklahoma Agricultural Code;
27. Extend and implement the powers and provisions granted by
the Oklahoma Agricultural Code to all programs administered by the
Department regardless of whether the statutes creating the program
are codified in this title;
28. Increase its efforts to ensure the safety and quality of
food and food products for wholesalers and retail sales in this
state and shall include, but not be limited to, inspections of
retailers and wholesalers to ensure compliance with all federal and
state certification standards;
29. Exercise all incidental powers which are necessary and
proper to implement and administer the purposes of the Oklahoma
Agricultural Code;
30. Accept upon behalf of the Department any gift or donation
of property, including, but not limited to, monetary gifts;
31. Promulgate rules regarding prescribed burning and smoke
management;
32. Enter into written leases or lease-purchase agreements to
acquire equipment, furnishings, supplies and other items necessary
for the operation of the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food,
and Forestry Agriculture Laboratory;
33. Exercise all incidental powers and promulgate rules,
procedures and forms which are necessary and proper to implement,
administer and enforce the Oklahoma Scrap Metal Dealers Act;
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34. Promulgate rules to ensure state control of any federal
program relating to on-farm fruit and vegetable production
inspections and regulation;
35. Develop a pollinator protection plan to promote the health
of and mitigate the risks to honeybees and other managed
pollinators;
36. Issue certificates of free sale for any products or items
within the jurisdiction of the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture,
Food, and Forestry; and
37. Prepare, in consultation with the Governor and the Attorney
General, any necessary plans, reports or other documents for
submission to the United States Department of Agriculture for
approval of the Oklahoma Industrial Hemp Program; and
38. Issue stop-sale orders for contaminated grain and require
remediation or destruction of the grain.
B. 1. If upon inspection or investigation, or whenever the
Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry determines
that there are reasonable grounds to believe that any person is in
violation of any part of the Oklahoma Environmental Quality Code
which is the responsibility and jurisdiction of the Oklahoma
Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry, any rule promulgated
by the State Board of Agriculture, or of any order, permit,
certificate, registration, charter, or license issued by the Board,
the Department may give written notice to the alleged violator of
the specific violation and of the alleged violator’s duty to correct
the violation immediately or within a set time period or both and
that the failure to do so shall result in administrative fines or
penalties.
2. Whenever the Department finds that an emergency exists
requiring immediate action to protect the public health, welfare, or
the environment, the President of the State Board of Agriculture may
without notice or hearing issue an order, effective upon issuance,
reciting the existence of an emergency and requiring that action be
taken as specified in the order to meet the emergency. Any person
to whom an order is directed shall comply immediately but may
request an administrative enforcement hearing within fifteen (15)
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days after the order is served. The hearing shall be held by the
Department within ten (10) days after receipt of the request. On
the basis of the hearing record, the President of the Board shall
sustain or modify the original order.
SECTION 2. 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.
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Passed the Senate the 16th day of March, 2026.
Presiding Officer of the Senate
Passed the House of Representatives the 29th day of April, 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: _________________________________