Section 250.9. A. There is hereby established an Office of Administrative Rules within the Office of the Secretary of State. The Office of Administrative Rules shall have the primary responsibility for publishing “The Oklahoma Register” and the “Oklahoma Administrative Code” and otherwise implementing the provisions of Article I of the Administrative Procedures Act. The Secretary of State shall provide for the adequate staffing of the Office to implement the provisions of this section including but not limited to an editor-in-chief editor in chief.

B. The Secretary shall cause to be published in electronic form, and may cause to be published in printed form, at the least cost possible to the state, the “Oklahoma Administrative Code” and “The Oklahoma Register”. In the event of any discrepancy between the electronic and printed form of the Code or “The Oklahoma Register”, the electronic form shall prevail unless it is conclusively shown, by reference to the rulemaking filings made with the Secretary, that the electronic form contains an error in publication.

Section 255. A. 1. The Secretary of State is hereby authorized, directed, and empowered to publish “The Oklahoma Register” not less than monthly for the publication of new rules, any amendment, revision or revocation of an existing rule, emergency rules, any notices of such rulemaking process and Executive Orders as are required by law to be published in “The Oklahoma Register”. Said rules or amendments, revisions, or revocations of existing rules shall be published in the first issue of “The Oklahoma Register” published pursuant to Sections 251, 253, 256, 303, 303.1, 303.2 and 308 of this title after the date of acceptance by the Secretary.

2. The Secretary shall cause a copy of each publication of “The Oklahoma Register” to be sent to those county clerks who request it, to members of the Legislature upon request, and to such other agencies, libraries, and officials as the Secretary may select. The Secretary may charge recipients of the publication a cost sufficient to defray the cost of publication and mailing. If the Secretary determines that the entity requesting copies could download “The Oklahoma Register” through the Internet, then the Secretary may comply by providing “The Oklahoma Register” to the entity via Internet, at no charge.

3. The Secretary shall cause a copy of all rules, all new rules, and all amendments, revisions, or revocations of existing rules to be on file and available for public examination in the Office during normal office hours.

4. The Secretary shall promulgate rules to systematize the designations of rules. To establish said system or to preserve uniformity of designations, the Secretary may require the agency to change the title or numbering of any rule or any amendment, revision, or revocation thereof.

B. The Secretary is authorized to provide for the publication of rules in summary form when the rules are of such length that publication of the full text would be too costly. The summary shall be prepared by the agency submitting the rules and shall state where the full text of the rule may be obtained.

C. The notice required pursuant to the provisions of Section 303 of this title shall be published in “The Oklahoma Register” prior to the adoption of a new rule, or amendment, revision or revocation of any existing rule. The notice shall include the information required by Section 303 of this title.

Section 256. A. 1. The Secretary of State shall provide for the codification, compilation, indexing and publication of agency rules and Executive Orders in a publication which shall be known as the “Oklahoma Administrative Code” in the following manner:

2. Compilations or revisions of the “Code” or any part thereof shall be supplemented or revised annually. The “Code” shall be organized by state agency and shall be arranged, indexed and printed in a manner to permit separate publications of portions thereof relating to individual agencies.

3. Annual supplements to the “Code” shall be cumulative. Emergency rules shall not be published in the “Code” or in any supplements thereto.

4. The “Code” and the supplements shall include a general subject index and an agency index of all rules and Executive Orders contained therein. “The Oklahoma Register” shall also include a sections-affected index of the “Code”. The “Code” and supplements shall contain such notes, cross-references and explanatory materials as required by the Secretary.

5. The Secretary in preparing such rules for publication in the “Code” or supplements shall omit all material shown in canceled type. The Secretary shall not prepare any rule for publication in the “Code” which amends or revises a rule unless the rule so amending or revising conforms to the provisions of the Administrative Procedures Act.

6. The Secretary is authorized to determine a numbering system and other standardized format for documents to be filed and may refuse to accept for publication any document that does not substantially conform to the promulgated rules of the Secretary.

B. 1. Rules submitted and accepted for publication in the “Code” by August 15 of each year shall be published in the next succeeding “Code” or supplement thereto.

2. As soon as possible after August 15 of each year, the Secretary shall assemble all rules and Executive Orders, except emergency rules, promulgated after the publication of the preceding “Code” or “Code” supplement in accordance with the provisions of the Administrative Procedures Act for publication in the “Oklahoma Administrative Code”. The “Code” or supplements thereto should be published as soon as possible after August 30 of each year.

3. Executive Orders of previous gubernatorial administrations shall terminate ninety (90) calendar days following the inauguration of the next Governor unless otherwise terminated or continued during that time by Executive Order. Copies of all Executive Orders shall be published and indexed in the “Oklahoma Administrative Code”. All Executive Orders placing agencies or employees under the State Merit System of Personnel Administration shall remain in effect unless otherwise modified by action of the Legislature.

C. The Secretary is hereby authorized and empowered to publish or to contract to publish the “Oklahoma Administrative Code”, and to publish or contract to publish such annual cumulative supplements so as to keep the “Code” current. All such agreements shall provide that the publisher shall make such publications in such form and arrangement as shall be approved by the Secretary. The Secretary may publish or authorize the publication of the “Code” in part.

D. The Secretary is authorized to correct spelling errors in rules submitted for publication in the “Code” or any such supplements or in “The Oklahoma Register”. Any other errors in rules submitted for publication in the “Code” may be noted in editorial notes provided by the Secretary.

E. The Secretary shall make copies of the “Code” generally available at a cost sufficient to defray the cost of publication and mailing. Except as otherwise provided by Section 257.1 of this title, the Secretary is authorized to sell or otherwise distribute the “Code” and its supplements.

F. 1. The codification system, derivations, cross-references, notes of decisions, source notes, authority notes, numerical lists, and codification guides, other than the actual text of rules, indexes, tables and other aids relevant to the publication of the “Oklahoma Administrative Code” and “The Oklahoma Register” shall be the property of the state and may be reproduced only with the written consent of the Secretary. The information which appears on the same page with the text of a rule may be reproduced incidentally with the reproduction of the rule, if the reproduction is for the private use of the individual and not for resale. No person shall attempt to copyright or publish the “Oklahoma Administrative Code” or “The Oklahoma Register”, in printed or electronic media, without expressed written consent of the Secretary of State. The Secretary shall notify the Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Oklahoma State Senate of any requests to copyright or publish the “Oklahoma Administrative Code” or “The Oklahoma Register”, prior to consent by the Secretary.

2. The Secretary may shall provide for the electronic access to the “Oklahoma Administrative Code” and “The Oklahoma Register” by:

3. Publications of rules by agencies are not official publications.

4. The sale or resale of the “Oklahoma Administrative Code” or any part thereof by the Secretary of State shall be exempt from any requirement mandating acquisition of a resale number and payment of sales tax.

Section 257.1. A. The Secretary of State is authorized to enter into and make reciprocal agreements with other states to allow exchanges of administrative codes of such states.

B. 1. Each of the following offices shall be entitled to receive, as soon as available from the Secretary, without cost, one copy of the printed volumes of the “Code” and the supplements thereto or, upon request from an office, one copy of the “Code” and the supplements thereto on compact disc:

2. The Department of Libraries is authorized to obtain number of copies of the “Code” and the supplements thereto necessary for use for deposit with the Publications Clearinghouse pursuant to Sections 3–113.1 through 3–115 of Title 65 of the Oklahoma Statutes. The Secretary is authorized to retain sufficient copies for exchange purposes with other states for copies of their rules.