§ 6-201. Establishment - Officers and employees.

A.  There shall be a Banking Department, with a main office located at 2900 North Lincoln Boulevard, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, which shall be a separate department of the state government charged with supervision of the activities in this state as provided in the Oklahoma Banking Code of 1997 and in other legislation conferring jurisdiction upon the Department.

B.  The head of the Department shall be the Commissioner.  The Commissioner shall be appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate.  The Commissioner shall have been a qualified elector of the state for at least three (3) years prior to the appointment, shall be at least thirty-five (35) years old and shall have had ten (10) years' experience as a bank officer or employee, or five (5) years' experience as a bank president or managing officer of a bank, or five (5) years' experience as a state or federal bank examiner.  The Commissioner shall be appointed for a term of four (4) years.  The Commissioner shall continue to serve until a successor is duly appointed, confirmed and qualified.  The Commissioner may be removed by the Governor for cause after notice and hearing.  A successor to a Commissioner who dies, resigns or is removed shall be appointed in the same manner as provided in this section.

C.  1.  The Commissioner shall appoint a Deputy Commissioner who may also serve as secretary to the Board hereinafter created.  The Deputy Commissioner shall have been a qualified elector of the state for at least three (3) years prior to the appointment, shall be at least thirty (30) years old and shall have had five (5) years' experience as a bank officer or employee, or three (3) years' experience as a bank president or managing officer of a bank, or five (5) years' experience as a state or federal bank examiner, Assistant Deputy Commissioner, or other Department employee.  If the office of the Commissioner is vacant or if the Commissioner is absent or unable to act, the Deputy Commissioner shall be the acting Commissioner.

2.  The Commissioner may appoint Administrative Assistants whose administrative duties shall be prescribed by the Commissioner.

3.  The Attorney General is hereby authorized to appoint an Assistant Attorney General, in addition to those now provided by law, to be assigned to the Department.  The Assistant Attorney General shall perform such additional duties as may be assigned by the Attorney General, and shall otherwise be subject to all provisions of the statutes relating to Assistant Attorneys General.  The Banking Department is authorized to pay all or any part of the salary of the Assistant Attorney General.

4.  The Commissioner may also appoint a Budget Director for the Department, a Credit Union Administrator and Assistant Deputy Commissioners.  The Budget Director, Credit Union Administrator and Assistant Deputy Commissioners shall have the duties and authority as prescribed by the Commissioner.

5.  The Commissioner shall prepare in writing a manual of all employee positions for the Department, including job classifications, seniority status, personnel qualifications, duties, maximum and minimum salary schedules and other personnel information for approval by the Board.  The Commissioner may select, appoint and employ such accountants, attorneys, auditors, examiners, clerks, secretaries, stenographers and other personnel as the Commissioner deems necessary for the proper administration of the Department and any other statutory duties of the Commissioner.

D.  All officers and employees of the Department shall be in the exempt unclassified service as provided for in Section 840-5.5 of Title 74 of the Oklahoma Statutes.  All future appointees to such positions shall be in the exempt unclassified service.  Except as provided in subsection B of this section, officers and employees of the Department shall not be terminable except for cause as defined by the Board.

E.  The Commissioner may delegate to any officer or employee of the Department any of the powers of the Commissioner and may designate any officer or employee of the Department to perform any of the duties of the Commissioner.

F.  The Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner, Assistants to the Commissioner, credit union administrator, budget director, Assistant Deputy Commissioners, examiners, examiner-trainees, and all other personnel shall, before entering upon the discharge of their duties, take and subscribe to the oath of office required of state officers as provided by Section 36.2A of Title 51 of the Oklahoma Statutes.

G.  1.  The Commissioner shall adopt an appropriate seal as the Seal of the State Banking Commissioner.

2.  Every certificate, assignment and conveyance executed by the Commissioner, in pursuance of the authority conferred upon the Commissioner by law and sealed with the seal of the Department, shall be received in evidence and recorded in the proper recording offices in the same manner as a deed regularly acknowledged, as required by law.

3.  Whenever it is necessary for the Commissioner to approve any instrument or to affix the official seal thereto, the Commissioner may charge a fee for affixing the approval of the Commissioner or the official seal to such instrument.  Copies of all records and papers in the office of the Department, certified by the Commissioner and authenticated by the seal, shall be received in evidence in all cases equally and of like effect as the original.  Whenever it is proper to furnish a copy of any paper filed in the Department or to certify such paper, the Commissioner may charge a fee for furnishing such copy, for affixing the official seal on such copy and/or for certifying the same.

Added by Laws 1965, c. 161, § 201.  Amended by Laws 1967, c. 52, § 1, emerg. eff. April 14, 1967; Laws 1967, c. 365, § 1, emerg. eff. May 22, 1967; Laws 1970, c. 321, § 1; Laws 1971, c. 352, § 2; Laws 1975, c. 109, § 1, emerg. eff. May 7, 1975; Laws 1976, c. 280, § 3, emerg. eff. June 15, 1976; Laws 1977, c. 66, § 3, emerg. eff. May 23, 1977; Laws 1979, c. 173, § 1; Laws 1980, c. 159, § 2, emerg. eff. April 2, 1980; Laws 1980, c. 360, § 2, emerg. eff. June 27, 1980; Laws 1981, c. 209, § 6, emerg. eff. May 29, 1981; Laws 1982, c. 223, § 3; Laws 1985, c. 331, § 4, emerg. eff. July 29, 1985; Laws 1992, c. 367, § 13, eff. July 1, 1992; Laws 1993, c. 183, § 2, eff. July 1, 1993; Laws 1995, c. 36, § 1, eff. July 1, 1995; Laws 1997, c. 111, § 4, eff. July 1, 1997; Laws 1999, c. 27, § 1, eff. July 1, 1999; Laws 2005, c. 48, § 2, eff. Nov. 1, 2005; Laws 2008, c. 275, § 1, eff. July 1, 2008; Laws 2009, c. 3, § 1, eff. July 1, 2009; Laws 2010, c. 62, § 1, emerg. eff. April 9, 2010.