Old	New	Differences
1	1
2	2
3	3
4	4	Req. No. 747 Page 1 1
5	5	2
6	6	3
7	7	4
8	8	5
9	9	6
10	10	7
11	11	8
12	12	9
13	13	10
14	14	11
15	15	12
16	16	13
17	17	14
18	18	15
19	19	16
20	20	17
21	21	18
22	22	19
23	23	20
24	24	21
25	25	22
26	26	23
27	27	24
28	28	1
29	29	2
30	30	3
31	31	4
32	32	5
33	33	6
34	34	7
35	35	8
36	36	9
37	37	10
38	38	11
39	39	12
40	40	13
41	41	14
42	42	15
43	43	16
44	44	17
45	45	18
46	46	19
47	47	20
48	48	21
49	49	22
50	50	23
51	51	24
52	52
53	53	STATE OF OKLAHOMA
54	54
55	55	1st Session of the 60th Legislature (2025)
56	56
57	57	SENATE BILL 966 By: Standridge
58	58
59	59
60	60
61	61
62	62
63	63	AS INTRODUCED
64	64
65	65	An Act relating to turnpikes; amending 69 O.S. 2021,
66	66	Section 1703, as amended by Section 1, Chapter 295,
67	67	O.S.L. 2023 (69 O.S. Supp. 2 024, Section 1703), which
68	68	relates to the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority; updating
69	69	statutory references ; updating statutory language;
70	70	subjecting Authority to certain oversight; requiring
71	71	submission of certain reports; creating the Turnpike
72	72	Legislative Oversigh t Board; declaring scope and
73	73	purpose; stating composition; setting terms and
74	74	conditions for membership; establishing requirements
75	75	for conduct of Board business; requiring certain
76	76	reports; directing distribution of reports;
77	77	authorizing suspension of certain officers under
78	78	certain circumstances; establishing procedures for
79	79	certain suspension or removal; providing for
80	80	codification; and declaring an emergency .
81	81
82	82
83	83
84	84
85	85	BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
86	86	SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 69 O.S. 2021, Section 1703, as
87	87	amended by Section 1, Chapter 295, O.S.L. 2023 (69 O.S. Supp. 2024,
88	88	Section 1703), is amended to read as follows:
89	89	Section 1703. A. There is hereby created a body corporate and
90	90	politic to be known as the “Oklahoma Turnpike Authority ” and by that
91	91	name the Authority may sue and be sued, and plead and be impleaded.
92	92	The Authority is hereby constituted an instrumentality of the state,
93	93
94	94
95	95	Req. No. 747 Page 2 1
96	96	2
97	97	3
98	98	4
99	99	5
100	100	6
101	101	7
102	102	8
103	103	9
104	104	10
105	105	11
106	106	12
107	107	13
108	108	14
109	109	15
110	110	16
111	111	17
112	112	18
113	113	19
114	114	20
115	115	21
116	116	22
117	117	23
118	118	24
119	119	1
120	120	2
121	121	3
122	122	4
123	123	5
124	124	6
125	125	7
126	126	8
127	127	9
128	128	10
129	129	11
130	130	12
131	131	13
132	132	14
133	133	15
134	134	16
135	135	17
136	136	18
137	137	19
138	138	20
139	139	21
140	140	22
141	141	23
142	142	24
143	143
144	144	and the exercise by the Authority of the powers conferred by this
145	145	act Section 1701 et seq. of this title in the construction,
146	146	operation, and maintenance of turnpi ke projects shall be deemed and
147	147	held to be an essential governmental function of the state with all
148	148	the attributes thereof. Provided, however, the Turnpike Authority
149	149	is authorized to carry and shall carry liability insurance to the
150	150	same extent and in the same manner as the Transportation Commission,
151	151	and in addition thereto it shall be subject to the workers ’
152	152	compensation laws of the state , the same as a private construction
153	153	project.
154	154	B. The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority shall consist of the
155	155	Governor, who shall be a member an ex officio member, two (2)
156	156	members to be appointed by the Governor, two (2) members to be
157	157	appointed by the Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives,
158	158	and two (2) members to be appointed by the President Pro Tempore of
159	159	the Oklahoma State Senate. The appointive members shall be
160	160	residents of the state, and shall have been qualified electors
161	161	therein for a period of at least one (1) year next preceding their
162	162	appointment. One appointive member shall be appointed from each of
163	163	six districts of the state, such districts to include the area as
164	164	follows:
165	165	District 1. Oklahoma, Canadian, Cleveland, McClain and Garvin
166	166	Counties.
167	167
168	168
169	169	Req. No. 747 Page 3 1
170	170	2
171	171	3
172	172	4
173	173	5
174	174	6
175	175	7
176	176	8
177	177	9
178	178	10
179	179	11
180	180	12
181	181	13
182	182	14
183	183	15
184	184	16
185	185	17
186	186	18
187	187	19
188	188	20
189	189	21
190	190	22
191	191	23
192	192	24
193	193	1
194	194	2
195	195	3
196	196	4
197	197	5
198	198	6
199	199	7
200	200	8
201	201	9
202	202	10
203	203	11
204	204	12
205	205	13
206	206	14
207	207	15
208	208	16
209	209	17
210	210	18
211	211	19
212	212	20
213	213	21
214	214	22
215	215	23
216	216	24
217	217
218	218	District 2. Washington, Nowata, Craig, O ttawa, Rogers, Mayes,
219	219	Delaware, Wagoner, Cherokee, Adair, Okmulgee, Osage, Muskogee,
220	220	Sequoyah, McIntosh and Haskell Counties.
221	221	District 3. Coal, Logan, Payne, Lincoln, Creek, Okfuskee,
222	222	Pottawatomie, Seminole, Hughes and Pontotoc Counties.
223	223	District 4. Kay, Pawnee, Garfield, Noble, Tulsa, Woods,
224	224	Woodward, Major, Alfalfa and Grant Cou nties.
225	225	District 5. Cimarron, Grady, Texas, Beaver, Harper, Ellis,
226	226	Roger Mills, Dewey, Custer, Caddo, Washita, Beckham, Harmon,
227	227	Stephens, Jefferson, Greer, Kiowa, Jackson, Tillma n, Comanche,
228	228	Cotton, Kingfisher and Blaine Counties.
229	229	District 6. Carter, Love, Murray, Johnston, Marshall, Atoka,
230	230	Bryan, Pittsburg, Latimer, Le Flore, Pushmataha, Choctaw and
231	231	McCurtain Counties.
232	232	The Governor shall appoint the members from Districts 1 and 2.
233	233	The Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives shall appoint
234	234	the members from Districts 3 and 4. The President Pro Tempore of
235	235	the Oklahoma State Senate shall appoint the members from Districts 5
236	236	and 6. Appointive members serving on the Oklahoma Turnpike
237	237	Authority on the effective date of this act November 1, 2023, shall
238	238	continue to serve as members of the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority for
239	239	the remainder of the original terms for which they were appointed,
240	240	unless sooner removed by the appointing aut hority for their District
241	241	district. Thereafter, each appointive member shall be appointed in
242	242
243	243
244	244	Req. No. 747 Page 4 1
245	245	2
246	246	3
247	247	4
248	248	5
249	249	6
250	250	7
251	251	8
252	252	9
253	253	10
254	254	11
255	255	12
256	256	13
257	257	14
258	258	15
259	259	16
260	260	17
261	261	18
262	262	19
263	263	20
264	264	21
265	265	22
266	266	23
267	267	24
268	268	1
269	269	2
270	270	3
271	271	4
272	272	5
273	273	6
274	274	7
275	275	8
276	276	9
277	277	10
278	278	11
279	279	12
280	280	13
281	281	14
282	282	15
283	283	16
284	284	17
285	285	18
286	286	19
287	287	20
288	288	21
289	289	22
290	290	23
291	291	24
292	292
293	293	the manner set forth by this section for a term of six (6) years,
294	294	except that any person appointed to fill a vacancy shall be
295	295	appointed to serve only for the unex pired term, and a member of the
296	296	Authority shall be eligible for reappointment. Each appointed
297	297	member of the Authority before entering upon the duties of office
298	298	shall take an oath as provided by Section 1 of Article XV of the
299	299	Oklahoma Constitution of the State of Oklahoma. Any appointive
300	300	member of the Authority may be removed at an y time with cause by the
301	301	appointing authority.
302	302	C. The Authority shall elect one of the appointed members as
303	303	chairperson chair and another as vice-chairperson vice chair, and
304	304	shall also elect a Secretary secretary and Treasurer treasurer. A
305	305	majority of the members of the Authority shall constitute a quorum
306	306	and the vote of a majority of the members shall be necessary for any
307	307	action taken by the Authority. No vacancy in the member ship of the
308	308	Authority shall impair the right of a quorum to exercise all the
309	309	rights and perform all the duties of the Authority.
310	310	D. Appointed members of the Authority shall be prohibited from
311	311	voting on any issue in which the member has a direct financial
312	312	interest.
313	313	E. Before the issuance of any turnpike revenue bonds under the
314	314	provisions of this act Section 101 et seq. of this title , each
315	315	appointed member of the Authority shall execute a surety bond in the
316	316	penal sum of Twenty-five Thousand Dollars ($25,000 .00) and the
317	317
318	318
319	319	Req. No. 747 Page 5 1
320	320	2
321	321	3
322	322	4
323	323	5
324	324	6
325	325	7
326	326	8
327	327	9
328	328	10
329	329	11
330	330	12
331	331	13
332	332	14
333	333	15
334	334	16
335	335	17
336	336	18
337	337	19
338	338	20
339	339	21
340	340	22
341	341	23
342	342	24
343	343	1
344	344	2
345	345	3
346	346	4
347	347	5
348	348	6
349	349	7
350	350	8
351	351	9
352	352	10
353	353	11
354	354	12
355	355	13
356	356	14
357	357	15
358	358	16
359	359	17
360	360	18
361	361	19
362	362	20
363	363	21
364	364	22
365	365	23
366	366	24
367	367
368	368	secretary and treasurer shall execute a surety bond in the penal sum
369	369	of One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00), each such surety bond
370	370	to be conditioned upon the faithful performance of the duties of the
371	371	office, to be executed by a surety c ompany authorized to transact
372	372	business in the State of Oklahoma this state as surety and to be
373	373	approved by the Governor and filed in the office Office of the
374	374	Secretary of State.
375	375	F. The members of the Authority shall not be entitled to
376	376	compensation for the ir services, but each member shall be reimbursed
377	377	for actual expenses necessari ly incurred in the performance of the
378	378	duties of such member. All expenses incurred in carrying out the
379	379	provisions of this act Section 101 et seq. of this title shall be
380	380	payable solely from funds provided under the authority of this act
381	381	Section 101 et seq. of this title and no liability or obligation
382	382	shall be incurred by the Authority hereunder beyond the extent to
383	383	which monies shall have been provided under the authority of this
384	384	act.
385	385	G. Whenever the terms “Oklahoma Transportation Authority ”,
386	386	“Transportation Authority”, or “Authority”, when used in reference
387	387	to the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority, appear in the Oklahoma Statutes,
388	388	such terms shall mean the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority.
389	389	H. The conduct of the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority shall be
390	390	subject to and not exercised contrary to the provisions of Section 2
391	391	of this act.
392	392
393	393
394	394	Req. No. 747 Page 6 1
395	395	2
396	396	3
397	397	4
398	398	5
399	399	6
400	400	7
401	401	8
402	402	9
403	403	10
404	404	11
405	405	12
406	406	13
407	407	14
408	408	15
409	409	16
410	410	17
411	411	18
412	412	19
413	413	20
414	414	21
415	415	22
416	416	23
417	417	24
418	418	1
419	419	2
420	420	3
421	421	4
422	422	5
423	423	6
424	424	7
425	425	8
426	426	9
427	427	10
428	428	11
429	429	12
430	430	13
431	431	14
432	432	15
433	433	16
434	434	17
435	435	18
436	436	19
437	437	20
438	438	21
439	439	22
440	440	23
441	441	24
442	442
443	443	I. The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority shall annually provide a
444	444	copy of its most recent annual report to the members of the Turnpike
445	445	Legislative Oversight Board, in addition to any information
446	446	requested pursuant to the provisions of Section 2 of this act.
447	447	SECTION 2. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
448	448	in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 17 03.1 of Title 69, unless there
449	449	is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
450	450	A. There is hereby created the Turnpike Legislative Oversight
451	451	Board for the purpose of overseeing the functions, activities,
452	452	policies, procedures, and expenditures per formed by the Oklahoma
453	453	Turnpike Authority and any related issues the Board dee ms
454	454	appropriate. Members of the Board shall be appointed in January of
455	455	each year following a state general election for two -year terms, and
456	456	shall continue to serve until new memb ers are appointed. The
457	457	President Pro Tempore of the Senate shall appoint six members from
458	458	the Senate, to be from each of the six districts of the state as
459	459	provided for in subsection B of Section 1703 of Title 69 of the
460	460	Oklahoma Statutes, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives
461	461	shall appoint six members from the House of Rep resentatives, to be
462	462	from each of the six districts of the state as provided for in
463	463	subsection B of Section 1703 of Title 69 of the Oklahoma Statutes.
464	464	B. The President Pro Tempor e of the Senate and the Speaker of
465	465	the House of Representatives shall each designate one of their
466	466	appointees to serve as co -chair of the Board. The Board shall meet
467	467
468	468
469	469	Req. No. 747 Page 7 1
470	470	2
471	471	3
472	472	4
473	473	5
474	474	6
475	475	7
476	476	8
477	477	9
478	478	10
479	479	11
480	480	12
481	481	13
482	482	14
483	483	15
484	484	16
485	485	17
486	486	18
487	487	19
488	488	20
489	489	21
490	490	22
491	491	23
492	492	24
493	493	1
494	494	2
495	495	3
496	496	4
497	497	5
498	498	6
499	499	7
500	500	8
501	501	9
502	502	10
503	503	11
504	504	12
505	505	13
506	506	14
507	507	15
508	508	16
509	509	17
510	510	18
511	511	19
512	512	20
513	513	21
514	514	22
515	515	23
516	516	24
517	517
518	518	at least once annually. Additional meetings may be called as the
519	519	co-chairs deem necessary . Meetings of the Board shall be called by
520	520	the co-chairs. A majority of the appointed members shall constitute
521	521	a quorum for any meeting of the Board.
522	522	C. The Board may conduct hearings, studies, and any other
523	523	meetings necessary to fulfill the duties of t he Board. The Board
524	524	may compel the production of witnesses, experts, data, and any non -
525	525	privileged information from the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority as
526	526	necessary for the performance of the Board ’s oversight duties. The
527	527	Board shall produce an annual written report on the activities of
528	528	the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority including informa tion regarding the
529	529	conduct and quality of the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority ’s management,
530	530	administration, and transparency. Such report shall be approved by
531	531	a majority of the memb ers and distributed electronically to the
532	532	Governor, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, the Speaker of
533	533	the House of Representatives, the members of the Oklahoma Turnpike
534	534	Authority, and the Executive Director of the Oklahoma Turnpike
535	535	Authority.
536	536	D. The Board may, through a majority vote of all members
537	537	present in person, temporar ily suspend any non ex officio member of
538	538	the board of directors or executive staff of the Oklahoma Turnpike
539	539	Authority for thirty (30) days for the purpose of an investigation.
540	540	Causes for suspension include, but are not limited to:
541	541	1. Refusal to cooperate with the requests of the Board;
542	542
543	543
544	544	Req. No. 747 Page 8 1
545	545	2
546	546	3
547	547	4
548	548	5
549	549	6
550	550	7
551	551	8
552	552	9
553	553	10
554	554	11
555	555	12
556	556	13
557	557	14
558	558	15
559	559	16
560	560	17
561	561	18
562	562	19
563	563	20
564	564	21
565	565	22
566	566	23
567	567	24
568	568	1
569	569	2
570	570	3
571	571	4
572	572	5
573	573	6
574	574	7
575	575	8
576	576	9
577	577	10
578	578	11
579	579	12
580	580	13
581	581	14
582	582	15
583	583	16
584	584	17
585	585	18
586	586	19
587	587	20
588	588	21
589	589	22
590	590	23
591	591	24
592	592
593	593	2. Mismanagement of Oklahoma Turnpike Authority funds;
594	594	3. Professional misconduct; or
595	595	4. Violation of any applicable administrative rule.
596	596	E. If the thirty (30) days have elapsed and no investigation
597	597	has been conducted, the suspended member of the board of directors
598	598	or executive staff shall be immediately reinstated.
599	599	F. After the thirty (30) days have elapsed and an investigation
600	600	has been conducted, the Board may vote to reinstate the suspended
601	601	member of the board of directors or executive staff, or, through a
602	602	two-thirds (2/3) vote of the Board, with all members present, send
603	603	the question of retaining the services of the suspended member to
604	604	the Senate and the House of Representatives. If two -thirds (2/3) of
605	605	both houses of the Legislature vote to remove the suspended member,
606	606	the member is removed from his or her position, regardless of the
607	607	appointing officer.
608	608	SECTION 3. It being immediately necessary for the preservation
609	609	of the public peace, health or safety, an emergency is hereby
610	610	declared to exist, by reason whereof this act shall take effect and
611	611	be in full force from and after its passage and approval.
612	612
613	613	60-1-747 MSBB 1/16/2025 1:19:25 PM

Oklahoma 2025 Regular Session

Oklahoma Senate Bill SB966 Compare Versions