Can Oklahoma cabinet secretaries be paid more than the maximum salary the Legislature set for their position, and what happens if they have already received excess pay?
Plain-English summary
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond answered Representative Chris Kannady's question about whether the Governor's cabinet secretaries can earn more than the maximum salaries the Legislature wrote into 74 O.S. § 10.5. The statute caps annual compensation for each of the eleven cabinet positions at amounts ranging from $65,000 to $90,000.
The AG said the cap is exactly what it says: a maximum, not a starting point. Any salary paid above the statutory ceiling is an improper overpayment, regardless of how the cabinet secretary was hired, what the Office of the Governor budgeted, or whether the secretary holds another agency-head position. Excess payments are recoverable under the Oklahoma Personnel Act, and 74 O.S. § 840-2.19 lets the State reach back one year from the date the error is determined.
The AG framed the analysis as plain-text statutory interpretation: when statutory language is clear, courts apply it without further construction. There is no room for the executive branch to set salaries above the legislative cap.
What this means for you
If you are an Oklahoma cabinet secretary or you appoint one
Confirm the secretary's annual compensation against 74 O.S. § 10.5(1) through (10). If the cabinet secretary holds another funded role (for example, also serving as an agency head whose own salary exceeds the cabinet maximum), the cabinet-secretary compensation specifically for the cabinet role cannot exceed the § 10.5 cap. The opinion does not address total compensation across multiple offices, but it does cleanly bar paying any single secretary more than the cap for cabinet service.
If you are a state finance officer or HR administrator
Audit cabinet-secretary payroll against the statutory caps. If you find amounts above the cap, treat them as overpayments and follow the recovery procedure in 74 O.S. § 840-2.19. The recovery reaches "all overpayments occurring within one (1) year prior to the determination of error," so document the determination date and pull the relevant payroll history.
If you advise the Governor's office on executive-branch staffing
Use the cap as a hard ceiling when designing compensation. If you believe a cap-exceeding salary is necessary to attract the right person, the only legal path is a legislative amendment to § 10.5. An executive order, employment contract, or bonus structure cannot override the statute.
If you are a journalist or watchdog reviewing state pay
Compare reported cabinet-secretary salaries against 74 O.S. § 10.5. Any pay above the cap is, per this AG opinion, recoverable as an overpayment. Public records requests for cabinet-secretary payroll under Oklahoma's Open Records Act will let you check.
Common questions
Q: What are the statutory salary caps for Oklahoma cabinet secretaries?
A: 74 O.S. § 10.5(1)–(10) sets a maximum salary between $65,000 and $90,000 for each of the eleven cabinet positions: Human Resources and Administration, Agriculture, Commerce and Tourism, Education, Energy, Finance and Administration, Health, Human Services, Safety and Security, State, and Veterans Affairs.
Q: Can the Governor pay a cabinet secretary more if private donors fund the difference?
A: The opinion does not address private supplements directly, but the cap applies to "compensation for their service as secretary." Any compensation routed to a cabinet secretary for cabinet service that exceeds the cap is, per the AG, improper. Donor-funded supplements would face the same statutory ceiling.
Q: What happens if a cabinet secretary already received pay above the cap?
A: It is treated as an overpayment recoverable under the Oklahoma Personnel Act, 74 O.S. § 840-2.19. The State can recover all overpayments within one year before the determination of error.
Q: Can the cap be overridden by executive order?
A: No. The Governor's executive-order authority over the cabinet system (74 O.S. § 10.3) lets the Governor structure the cabinet but does not let the Governor override compensation caps that the Legislature wrote into § 10.5.
Q: Do these caps apply to all state employees or just cabinet secretaries?
A: Just cabinet secretaries serving in the eleven listed positions. Other state-officer compensation is governed by other statutes.
Background and statutory framework
The Oklahoma Legislature created the Governor's Cabinet in 1986 through the Executive Branch Reform Act, 74 O.S. § 10.3. Section 10.3(B) lets the Governor appoint cabinet secretaries either as standalone positions funded by the Office of the Governor or from among existing agency heads in a cabinet area. In 1997, the Legislature added compensation caps in 74 O.S. § 10.5, listing each cabinet position with a "maximum salary" amount.
Governor Stitt reorganized the cabinet for his second term by Executive Order 2023-08 (April 11, 2023). That reorganization can shift positions among cabinet areas under § 10.3(A), subject to Senate confirmation, but cannot raise the underlying statutory salary ceilings.
The AG analyzed the question as a straightforward exercise of plain-meaning interpretation. Stricklen v. Multiple Injury Trust Fund, 2024 OK 1, treats clear statutory language as conclusive of legislative intent. Nealis v. Baird, 1999 OK 98, repeats that when a statute's plain language answers the question, "[t]here is no room . . . for statutory construction."
Citations and references
Statutes:
- 74 O.S.2021, § 10.5 (cabinet-secretary salary caps)
- 74 O.S.2021, § 10.3 (Governor's Cabinet structure)
- 74 O.S.Supp.2022, § 840-2.19 (overpayment recovery under Oklahoma Personnel Act)
Cases:
- Stricklen v. Multiple Injury Trust Fund, 2024 OK 1, 542 P.3d 858 (plain-language interpretation)
- TXO Production Corp. v. Oklahoma Corporation Commission, 1992 OK 39, 829 P.2d 964 (legislative intent in statutory text)
- Nealis v. Baird, 1999 OK 98, 996 P.2d 438 (no statutory construction needed when language is clear)
Source
- Landing page: https://oklahoma.gov/oag/opinions/ag-opinions/2026/4.html
- Original PDF: https://oklahoma.gov/content/dam/ok/en/oag/opinions/ag-opinions/2026/A.G.%20Opinion%202026-4.pdf
Original opinion text
GENTNER DRUMMOND
ATTORNEY GENERAL
ATTORNEY GENERAL OPINION
2026-4
The Honorable Chris Kannady
Oklahoma House of Representatives, District 91
2300 N. Lincoln Boulevard, Room 240
Oklahoma City, OK 73105
March 31, 2026
Dear Representative Kannady:
This office has received your request for an Attorney General Opinion in which you ask, in effect,
the following question:
May the Oklahoma Governor's cabinet secretaries receive an annual salary as
compensation for their service as secretary in an amount that exceeds the
maximum salary established for their respective cabinet positions pursuant to
title 74, section 10.5 of the Oklahoma Statutes?
I.
SUMMARY
The answer is no. The Legislature has prescribed the annual compensation for executive cabinet
secretaries under the provisions of title 74, section 10.5 of the Oklahoma Statutes. The statute is
unequivocal: cabinet secretaries "may receive a maximum salary of" between $65,000 and
$90,000 per year, depending on their position. 74 O.S.2021, § 10.5(1)–(10). Accordingly, any
amount paid for a secretary's service exceeding the statutory maximum would be improper
overpayment to which a cabinet secretary is not entitled under Oklahoma law. These overpayment
amounts, in turn, are subject to recovery under the Oklahoma Personnel Act.
II.
BACKGROUND
In 1986, the Legislature authorized the creation of a Governor's Cabinet as part of the Executive
Branch Reform Act (the "Act"). See 1986 Okla. Sess. Laws ch. 207, § 3. The Act provides that
"[w]ithin forty-five (45) days of assuming office, each Governor may create a cabinet system for
the executive branch of state government." 74 O.S.2021, § 10.3(A). "The cabinet system may be
an organizational framework created by executive order which includes all executive agencies,
boards, commissions, or institutions and their assignments to specific cabinet areas." Id. Under the
Act, a "cabinet Secretary may be appointed as a position funded by the Office of the Governor
313 N.E. 21ST STREET • OKLAHOMA CITY, OK 73105 • (405) 521-3921 • FAX: (405) 521-6246
The Honorable Chris Kannady
Oklahoma House of Representatives, District 91
A.G. Opinion
Page 2
from funds available to that office, or appointed as a cabinet Secretary from among the agency
heads within the cabinet area." Id. § 10.3(B).
In 1997, the Legislature established salary amounts for which "[c]abinet Secretaries may be
annually compensated for their services." 1997 Okla. Sess. Laws ch. 384, § 2. The current version
of the Act's compensation statute for executive cabinet secretaries is codified under title 74, section
10.5 of the Oklahoma Statutes. Section 10.5 lists eleven cabinet positions and sets a "maximum
salary," ranging between $65,000 and $90,000 per year, for each listed office. 1 Id. § 10.5(1)–(10).
By executive order issued on April 11, 2023, Governor Stitt organized the cabinet system for his
second term of office. See Exec. Order No. 2023-08.
III.
DISCUSSION
Essentially, your question asks whether the Governor's cabinet secretaries may lawfully receive
annual salaries greater than the maximum limits in section 10.5. They may not. As a fundamental
matter, "[i]f the language in the statute is plain and unambiguous, the legislative intent is deemed
to be expressed by the statutory language." Stricklen v. Multiple Inj. Tr. Fund, 2024 OK 1, ¶ 14,
542 P.3d 858, 865–66; see also TXO Prod. Corp. v. Okla. Corp. Comm'n, 1992 OK 39, ¶ 7, 829
P.2d 964, 969 ("It is presumed that the legislature has expressed its intent in a statute and that it
intended what it so expressed. The statute should then be interpreted to attain that purpose and
end."). Here, the Legislature's intent could not be clearer. Simply put, "[t]here is no room in this
case for statutory construction. This is so because the legislative intent can be ascertained from the
plain language of" section 10.5. See Nealis v. Baird, 1999 OK 98, ¶ 55, 996 P.2d 438, 460. In
short, a cabinet secretary may not be paid more than the maximum annual salary established by
the Legislature in section 10.5.
As a final point, the Oklahoma Personnel Act contains provisions governing the recovery of
overpayments to state employees. See, e.g., 74 O.S.Supp.2022, § 840-2.19(D) (setting forth
procedures for recovery of "[a]ny sum on a payroll claim found to have been paid in excess of the
actual amount due and owing"). Under section 840-2.19, the "[r]ecovery of overpayments from an
employee shall include all overpayments occurring within one (1) year prior to the determination
of error." Id. § 840-2.19(B)(7). Any payment of salary to a cabinet secretary for his or her cabinet
service that exceeds section 10.5's maximum salary is therefore subject to the Oklahoma Personnel
Act's recovery procedures.
Accordingly, this Office concludes that: first, a cabinet secretary may not receive an annual salary
greater than the maximum salary amount established for his or her respective cabinet position
under section 10.5; and second, any cabinet secretary who has been overpaid by the State of
Oklahoma contrary to section 10.5 is subject to the overpayment recovery procedures in the
Oklahoma Personnel Act.
The cabinet positions enumerated in the statute are the Secretaries of (1) Human Resources and
Administration, (2) Agriculture, (3) Commerce and Tourism, (4) Education, (5) Energy, (6) Finance and
Administration, (7) Health, (8) Human Services, (9) Safety and Security, (10) State, and (11) Veterans Affairs. 74
O.S.2021, § 10.5(1–10). Under the Act, these cabinet positions "may be modified at the sole discretion of the Governor
subject to Senate confirmation." Id. § 10.3(A).
1
The Honorable Chris Kannady
Oklahoma House of Representatives, District 91
A.G. Opinion
Page 3
It is, therefore, the official Opinion of the Attorney General that:
Oklahoma cabinet secretaries may not be paid an annual salary as
compensation for their service as secretary that exceeds the maximum salary
amounts created for their respective positions pursuant to title 74, section 10.5
of the Oklahoma Statutes. Any compensation received and retained by a
cabinet secretary in excess of the statutorily mandated maximum amount is an
improper overpayment under Oklahoma law and is, as a result, subject to the
Oklahoma Personnel Act's overpayment-recovery procedures.
GENTNER DRUMMOND
ATTORNEY GENERAL OF OKLAHOMA
CULLEN D. SWEENEY
ASSISTANT SOLICITOR GENERAL