Agency overview | |
---|---|
Formed | June 6, 1986 |
Headquarters | 3600 N Martin Luther King Oklahoma City, Oklahoma |
Employees | 9,764 (FY2011) |
Annual budget | $1.2 billion (FY2011) |
Minister responsible | |
Child agencies | |
Website | Office of the Secretary of Public Safety |
The Oklahoma Secretary of Public Safety is a member of the Oklahoma Governor's Cabinet. The Secretary is appointed by the Governor, with the consent of the Oklahoma Senate, to serve at the pleasure of the Governor. The Secretary serves as the chief advisor to the Governor on public safety and criminal justice.
The current Secretary-Designate is Tricia Everest who was appointed by Governor Kevin Stitt in 2021 and awaits Senate confirmation, and if confirmed will be the first woman to hold this position. [1]
The Secretary of Public Safety was established in 1986 to provide greater oversight and coordination to the public safety and criminal justice activities of the State government. The position was established, along with the Oklahoma Governor's Cabinet, by the Executive Branch Reform Act of 1986. The Secretary advises the Governor on public safety policy and advises the state's public safety agencies on new policy as directed by the Governor. The Secretary also provides the overarching management structure for the state's criminal justice agencies in order to deliver improved public services while eliminating redundancies and reducing support costs in order to more effectively and efficiently run the agencies in a unified manner.
The Secretary is responsible for overseeing State police services, criminal investigations, criminal justice and adult criminal corrections. The Secretary also coordinates the State's justice system by overseeing all state prosecutors and generally maintains public order throughout the State through oversight of all State law enforcement agencies. Homeland security, emergency management and law enforcement training are also overseen by the Secretary. The Secretary serves ex officio as the Governor's Representative for Highway Safety. As such, the Secretary is responsible for administering all funds from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for the purposes of promoting highway safety.
Oklahoma state law allows for Cabinet Secretaries to serve concurrently as the head of a State agency in addition to their duties as a Cabinet Secretary. Historically, the Secretary of Public Safety has also served as the Commissioner of the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety. However, the current Secretary Chip Keating does not share this role, with the position Commissioner currently filled by Rusty Rhoades.
The Secretary, unless filling an additional role which carries a greater salary, is entitled to annual pay of $85,000.
Officials reporting to the Secretary include:
Office | Officeholder | Since |
---|---|---|
Attorney General | Gentner Drummond | 2023 |
Director, Alcoholic Beverage Laws Enforcement Commission | A. Keith Burt | 2002 |
Director, State Bureau of Investigation | Ricky G. Adams | 2018 |
Director, State Bureau of Narcotics | Donnie Anderson | 2020 |
Chief Medical Examiner | Dr. Eric Pfeifer | 2011 |
Executive Director, Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training | J. Morrison (Acting) | 2017 |
Director, Department of Corrections | Scott Crow | 2019 |
Director, Department of Emergency Management | Mark Gower | 2019 |
Commissioner, Department of Public Safety | John Scully | 2020 |
Executive Coordinator, District Attorneys Council | Trent Baggett | 2017 |
Director, Office of Homeland Security | Kim E. Carter | 2011 |
Executive Director, Indigent Defense System | Craig Sutter | 2017 |
State Fire Marshall | Robert Doke | 2000 |
Executive Director, Pardon and Parole Board |
The Secretary of Public Safety oversees a budget for Fiscal Year 2020 of $1 billion. The budget authorization is broken down as follows:
Agency | Funding (in millions) | Employees (in FTEs) |
---|---|---|
Criminal Justice | ||
Office of the Attorney General | 38.3 | 207 |
District Attorneys Council | 125.2 | 1,081 |
Indigent Defense System | 19.6 | 109 |
SUBTOTAL | 183.1 | 1,397 |
Law Enforcement | ||
Alcoholic Beverage Law Enforcement Commission | 3.6 | 31 |
Department of Public Safety | 184.3 | 1,424 |
Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control | 20 | 143 |
State Bureau of Investigation | 37.6 | 318 |
Office of the State Fire Marshall | 2.8 | 23 |
SUBTOTAL | 248.3 | 1,939 |
Corrections | ||
Pardon and Parole Board | 2.2 | 23 |
Department of Corrections | 548.9 | 4,181 |
SUBTOTAL | 551.1 | 4,204 |
Science and Training | ||
Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training | 6.3 | 40 |
Office of Chief Medical Examiner | 12.1 | 94 |
SUBTOTAL | 18.4 | 134 |
Emergency Management | ||
Department of Emergency Management | 7.2 | 30 |
SUBTOTAL | 7.2 | 30 |
TOTAL | $1,008 | 7,704 |
# | Name | Took office | Left office | Governor served under |
---|---|---|---|---|
Bob Ricks | 1995 | 2003 | Frank Keating | |
2003 | 2004 | Brad Henry | ||
Kevin L. Ward | 2004 | 2011 | ||
Michael C. Thompson | 2011 | 2017 | Mary Fallin | |
Rusty Rhoades | 2017 | 2019 | ||
Chip Keating | 2019 | Present | Kevin Stitt |
The governor of Oklahoma is the head of government of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Under the Oklahoma Constitution, the governor serves as the head of the Oklahoma executive branch, of the government of Oklahoma. The governor is the ex officio commander-in-chief of the Oklahoma National Guard when not called into federal use. Despite being an executive branch official, the governor also holds legislative and judicial powers. The governor's responsibilities include making yearly "State of the State" addresses to the Oklahoma Legislature, submitting the annual state budget, ensuring that state laws are enforced, and that the peace is preserved. The governor's term is four years in length.
The Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) is an agency of the government of Oklahoma responsible for the construction and maintenance of the state's transportation infrastructure. Under the leadership of the Oklahoma secretary of transportation and ODOT executive director, the department maintains public infrastructure that includes highways and state-owned railroads and administers programs for county roads, city streets, public transit, passenger rail, waterways and active transportation. Along with the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority, the department is the primary infrastructure construction and maintenance agency of the State.
The government of the U.S. State of Oklahoma, established by the Oklahoma Constitution, is a republican democracy modeled after the federal government of the United States. The state government has three branches: the executive, legislative, and judicial. Through a system of separation of powers or "checks and balances," each of these branches has some authority to act on its own, some authority to regulate the other two branches, and has some of its own authority, in turn, regulated by the other branches.
The Cabinet of the governor of Oklahoma is a body of the most senior appointed officials of the executive branch of the government of Oklahoma. Originally an informal meeting between the governor of Oklahoma and various government officials, the Governor's Cabinet has evolved into an important information link between the governor and the various agencies, boards and commissions that operate within state government.
Captain Kevin Ward, OHP is an American police officer and politician from the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Ward previously served as the Oklahoma Secretary of Safety and Security, having been appointed by Governor of Oklahoma Brad Henry in 2004 and serving until 2011. Ward served concurrently as Oklahoma Commissioner of Public Safety.
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The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) is an independent state law enforcement agency of the government of Oklahoma. The OSBI assists the county sheriff offices and city police departments of the state, and is the primary investigative agency of the state government. OSBI works independent of the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety to investigate criminal law violations within the state at the request of statutory authorized requesters. The OSBI was created in 1925 during the term of Governor Martin E. Trapp.
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The Oklahoma Secretary of Environment is a member of the Oklahoma Governor's Cabinet. The Secretary is appointed by the Governor, with the consent of the Oklahoma Senate, to serve at the pleasure of the Governor. The Secretary serves as the chief advisor to the Governor on environmental policy development and implementation.
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Robert A. Ricks — known as Bob Ricks and "Backdraft Bob" — is an American law enforcement agent and politician from Texas and Oklahoma. He has worked for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Governor of Oklahoma and in local law enforcement. He is best known as the FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge during the 1993 Waco Siege or as FBI Special Agent in Charge during the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing investigation.
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