Oklahoma Commissioners of the Land Office

The Oklahoma Commissioners of the Land Office is an agency of the government of Oklahoma. The Land Office was created by the Oklahoma Constitution and is responsible for managing and controlling lands and funds granted to the state under the provisions of the Oklahoma organic act. These lands and fund are used to support common schools, colleges and universities.

The governing body of the Land Office is the Commissioners. The board is composed of five members: the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, the State Auditor, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and the Commissioner of Agriculture. The Governor serves as the Chair and the Lt. Governor serves as Vice Chair.

The Governor is responsible for appointing, with the consent of the other Commissioners, the Secretary of the Commissioners of the Land Office. The current Secretary is Harry W. Birdwell, who was appointed by Governor Mary Fallin in 2011.

The Land Office was created in 1907 during the term of Governor Charles N. Haskell.

Mission

The mission of the Commissioners of the Land Office is: "to grow the School Land Trust and to generate maximum earnings for distribution to the Trust beneficiaries".

Leadership

The Commissioners of the Land Office is under the supervision of the five-member board of Commissioners, with the Governor of Oklahoma serving as permanent Chairman and the Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma serving as the permanent Vice Chairman.

The members of the Commissioners of the Land Office:

Organization

• Commissioners of the Land Office
  • Secretary of the Land Office
    • Administration Division - responsible for overseeing the entire work of the CLO
    • Accounting Division - responsible for all accounting functions of the agency, including receipt of all funds, payment of claims, accounting for the fixed assets of the trusts and budgeting
    • Royalty Compliance Division - responsible for reviewing royalty payment transactions and lessee reports of production for compliance with CLO lease terms, regulations and Oklahoma law
    • Investment Division - responsible for managing the investments of the trust
    • Legal Division - responsible for providing legal services to the CLO
    • Minerals Management Division - responsible for the lease, sale and management of mineral rights under the control of the CLO
    • Real Estate Management Division - responsible for the lease, sale and management of school lands under the control of the CLO

Staffing

The Commissioners of the Land Office, with an annual budget of over $5 million. In fiscal year 2011, the Land Office was authorized 50 full-time employees.^[1]

References

1. ↑ FY 2011 State Budget, Oklahoma Office of State Finance

External links

• Commissioners of the Land Office homepage