The remainder of the constitution consists of twenty-nine articles, with the first eight pertaining to the state’s government.
Federal Relations Article One establishes how the state of Oklahoma is to relate to the United States federal government, stating that the US Constitution is the Supreme Law of the Land. By this article, religious freedom is established,
polygamy is forbidden, the debts of Oklahoma Territory are acquired by the State of Oklahoma, public school are established to be taught only in English, and that suffrage shall never be revoked due to “race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”
Bill of Rights Article Two enumerates the rights of all citizens of the State of Oklahoma. These include that all political power derives from the people, the inherent rights “to life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, and the enjoyment of the gains of their own industry,” the right to peaceful assembly, a ban on the interference with suffrage, the definition of treason, the right to trial by jury, that marriage in the State of Oklahoma is defined as being between a man and a woman, and many others. The right of a citizen to keep and bear arms in defense of his home, person, or property, or in aid of the civil power, when thereunto legally summoned, shall never be prohibited; but nothing herein contained shall prevent the Legislature from regulating the carrying of weapons.
Suffrage Article Three deals with suffrage in the State of Oklahoma. All peoples of the age of 18 are qualified electors in the state and a State Elector Board is established charged with the supervision of such elections as the Legislature shall direct. No elector in Oklahoma may vote in any election unless previously registered to do so with the state, and all elections must be “free and equal,” as no “power, civil or military, shall ever interfere to prevent the free exercise of the right of suffrage,” and “electors shall be privileged from arrest during their attendance on elections and while going to and from the same” except in cases of treason against the state.
Separation of Powers Article Four established the
Government of Oklahoma under the doctrine of
separation of powers and reads: :
The powers of the government of the State of Oklahoma shall be divided into three separate departments: The Legislative, Executive, and Judicial; and except as provided in this Constitution, the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial departments of government shall be separate and distinct, and neither shall exercise the powers properly belonging to either of the others. Legislative power Article Five establishes the
legislative branch of government,
Oklahoma Legislature, which includes the
House of Representatives and the
Senate. The article establishes the manner of election and qualifications of members of each House, and includes a unique
term limits provision in Section 17A: no member can serve more than 12 years total in the legislature, whether in one chamber or in both chambers. In addition, it provides for free debate in the legislature, limits self-serving behavior by senators and representatives, outlines legislative procedure and indicates the powers of the legislative branch.
Executive power Article Six describes the
governorship (the
executive branch): procedures for the selection of the governor, qualifications for office, the oath to be affirmed and the powers and duties of the office. It also provides for the office of
Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma, and specifies that the lieutenant governor succeeds to the governorship if the governor is incapacitated, dies, or resigns. Other executive offices and departments created in the article are the
Secretary of State, the
Attorney General, the
State Treasurer, the
State Auditor and Inspector, the
State Superintendent of Public Instruction, the
Insurance Commissioner, the
Commissioner of Labor, the
Department of Mines, the
Board of Agriculture, and the Commissioners of the Land Office.
Judicial power Article Seven describes the court system (the
judicial branch), which is unique in that it establishes two
courts of last resort (only neighboring state
Texas has a similar system). The Article vests the judicial power in a
Supreme Court, a
Court of Criminal Appeals, a Worker's Compensation Court, a Court of Tax Review, and such intermediate, trial level and municipal courts as the Legislature, at its discretion, may establish. As written in the Constitution, the Legislature is given the enumerated power to dissolve any court in Oklahoma at any time, except the Supreme Court. All civil judgments are reviewable by the Supreme Court and all criminal judgement are reviewable by the Court of Criminal Appeals. The Article also creates the
Oklahoma Court of Impeachment (charged with removal all elected officials from office) and the
Oklahoma Court on the Judiciary (charged with reviewing Justices and Judges). The Article continues to further describe how Justices and Judges are selected, and how and under what circumstances Justices and Judges are removed from office.
Impeachment Article Eight states that all state elected offices, including Supreme Court Justices, are subject to impeachment for wilful neglect of duty, corruption in office, habitual drunkenness, incompetency, or any offense involving moral turpitude committed while in office. The
Oklahoma House of Representatives must bring the charges against the individual with the
Oklahoma Senate serving as the
Court on Impeachment, with the
Chief Justice of Oklahoma serving as the court's
judge. If charged with impeachment and found guilty, the official’s term is immediately suspended.
Remaining Articles • Article Nine - Corporations • Article Ten - Taxes and Revenue in General • Article Eleven - State and School Lands • Article Twelve - Homestead and Exemptions • Article Twelve A - Homestead Exemption From Taxation • Article Thirteen - Education • Article Thirteen A - Oklahoma State System of Higher Education • Article Thirteen B - Board of Regents of Oklahoma Colleges • Article Fourteen - Banks and Banking • Article Fifteen - Oath of Office • Article Sixteen - Public Roads • Article Seventeen - Counties • Article Eighteen - Municipal Corporations • Article Nineteen - Insurance • Article Twenty - Manufacture and Commerce • Article Twenty-one - Public Institutions • Article Twenty-two - Alien and Corporate Ownership of Lands • Article Twenty-three - Miscellaneous • Article Twenty-four - Constitutional Amendments • The Oklahoma Constitution permits three methods of amendment: 1) amendments by the Oklahoma Legislature (requires majority vote of both houses and approval by majority of the voters at next general election; the Legislature can by 2/3 vote place the amendment on a special election), 2) constitutional convention (a call for such requires majority voter approval before the convention is held, and any amendments or new constitution requires majority voter approval, but such a call must be made at least once every 20 years), or 3) via an initiative petition. • Article Twenty-five - Social Security • Article Twenty-six - Department of Wildlife Conservation • Article Twenty-seven - Oklahoma Alcoholic Beverage Control Board (repealed) • Article Twenty-eight - Alcoholic Beverage Laws And Enforcement • Article Twenty-nine - Ethics Commission • Article Thirty - Official Actions of the State of Oklahoma The final section of the Oklahoma Constitution deals with laws and other ordinances in place in the Territory of Oklahoma before its admission to the Union in 1907. ==Section Attestations==