(a) Section 4 of Article XXV, of the Constitution of the State of Oklahoma provides that the Director of the Oklahoma Department of Human Services (OKDHS), subject to the control of the Oklahoma Commission for Human Services, has the power and duty to employ personnel of OKDHS. Consequently, as the executive and administrative officer of OKDHS, the Director likewise has final responsibility for all administrative decisions affecting personnel actions of OKDHS.  Authority to appoint employees in the unclassified service, is found in Section 26.17 of Title 56 and Sections 840-5.3 through 5.5 of Title 74 of the Oklahoma Statutes.

(b) The decision to place a position or employee in the unclassified service is based primarily on whether the duties assigned to the position are policy-making or are confidential in nature.  Additional factors that may be considered in this decision relate to rank in the organization, executive level reporting relationships, responsibilities for defining program direction, or the presence of executive duties and responsibilities.