SECTION 612:3-5-12. Policy

(a)   Purpose of Policy. Agency policy communicates the expected standards for staff conduct and provides the necessary direction for carrying out the agency's mission. The intent of policy is to provide a common basis for decision making so that individuals can expect equitable treatment when dealing with the agency. Our policy is a public document, maintained as part of the Oklahoma Administrative Code by the Office of Administrative Rules, in the Secretary of State's Office, so that the public will have the opportunity to know the mission of our program and how this agency intends to carry out that mission.

(b)   DRS Staff Responsibility. DRS staff are expected to be thoroughly familiar with agency policies pertaining to their conduct and program.

(1)   Supervisors and managers are responsible for ensuring that staff under their supervision are familiar with all policy and updates, and that their staff receive training on policy and updates.

(2)   Staff are expected to use professional judgment in conducting the agency's business. The policies of this agency are to inform and guide the professional judgment and conduct of staff. When a staff person needs guidance in making a decision, the first step is to consult agency policy.

(c)   Process Improvement Policy Section Responsibility. The Policy Section is charged with assuring that the Department complies with the Administrative Procedures Act. This responsibility includes:

(1)   Ensuring that all Department statements of general applicability and future effect that implement, interpret, or prescribe law or policy, or describe the procedures or practice requirements of the Department are promulgated in accordance with the APA.

(2)   That the public receives proper notice of the Department's intent to adopt, amend, or revoke rules so that opportunity is provided for public and consumer input during the rulemaking process.

(3)   Management of the promulgation process for the Department in an efficient and effective manner that complies with the APA.

(4)   The Administrator of the Process Improvement Unit, or designee, shall serve as the Department's liaison to the Office of Administrative Rules in the Office of the Secretary of State. The administrator will also designate a staff member to act in the capacity of back-up liaison.

(5)   The Administrator of the Process Improvement Unit, or designee, shall also serve as the attestation officer, as delegated by the Oklahoma Commission for Rehabilitation Services, for purposes of 75 O.S., Section 254. The administrator will also designate a staff member to act in the capacity of back-up attestation officer.

(d)   Drafting of New or Revised Policy. In compliance with the Administrative Procedures Act, new policy may be developed or an existing policy revised utilizing the following procedures:

(1)   Each Division Administrator, Unit Administrator, and School Superintendent is responsible for ensuring that Departmental policies for his or her program conform to the requirements of applicable statutes and regulations, and are effective in achieving their program's mission.

(2)   When a program administrator, or the Director, decides there is a need to draft new policy, or to amend existing policy,

(A)   The program administrator will initiate drafting content through whatever method deemed most effective by the administrator. Policy Section staff are available to provide guidance if requested.

(B)   The program administrator will provide to Policy Section staff the completed draft content, the reasons for changing the policy and any budgetary impact these changes may incur.

(C)   Policy Section staff will format the draft content in accordance with APA standards. Once drafted, Policy Section staff will consult with the program administrator concerning any needed revisions and produce a revised draft.

(D)   Revised draft policy will be distributed to Executive Team members for further review and response. Comments and suggestions for revision will be provided to the program administrator. The program administrator shall consider the comments and suggestions for inclusion and may revise the content again if appropriate.

(E)   The program administrator will provide the latest draft version to the Policy Section. Policy Section staff will provide this draft version to agency staff for comment.

(F)   Agency staff shall be notified via e-mail that draft policy is available for comment. The notification will include:

(i)   Identification and summary of the draft policy;

(ii)   General instructions on where the draft policy can be accessed;

(iii)   How to submit comments, and the due date for submission of comments, and;

(iv)   Where to direct questions about the draft policy.

(G)   Policy Section staff will collect and collate agency staff comments and develop a summary. The collated comments and the summary will be provided to the originating program administrator for consideration.

(H)   The program administrator will decide on what policy changes to make in response to the submitted comments, if any. The program administrator will also draft responses to the comments, which will at a minimum explain any instance in which staff recommendations were not adopted and will send the response to the Policy Section so it can be forwarded to the respective commentator.

(I)   Policy Section staff will work with the program administrator to finalize draft policy. This step will include a final check by the program administrator for consistency with existing policies, regulations, and applicable statutes. Policy Development staff will obtain authorization from the appropriate program administrator to proceed with promulgation of the draft policy.

(J)   When the draft policy pages are submitted to the Policy Section for promulgation, the draft policy is then referred to as proposed policy.

(e)   Adoption of New or Revised Policy. Proposed policy must be approved by the DRS Commission prior to submission for promulgation.

(1)   Policy Section staff will submit the proposed policy and/or notice, including executive summary and resolution, to the Director for review and to the Commission support staff by the established deadline for inclusion in the Commission meeting packet.

(2)   The originating administrator, with the assistance of the Administrator of Process Improvement, will be responsible for the presentation of proposed policy at the Commission meeting. Once proposed policies are presented to the Commission for approval their content will not be changed unless so ordered by the Commission.

(3)   Upon adoption of the proposed policy by the Commission, Policy Section staff will manage the promulgation process.

(f)   Effective Dates of Policy Revisions. The effective dates of policy revisions will be determined by the policy type.

(1)   The effective date will be noted on each page of the adopted policy. Whether internal management policies or administrative code, policies can only be applied prospectively from their effective date.

(2)   Internal management policies that do not fall under the APA become effective immediately upon adoption by the Commission.

(3)   Permanent rules become effective ten days after they are published in the Oklahoma Register pursuant to the APA. DRS permanent rules will usually be published following the legislative session. If a later date is specified in statute, or in the rules, the later date will become the effective date.

(4)   Emergency rules become effective immediately or at a stated date after certification by the Governor. The Governor has forty-five calendar days from the date rules are submitted to review them.

(5)   Policy Section staff will notify the appropriate Division Administrator, Superintendent, and the Director of approvals.

(g)   Permanent Rules; Modification Limitations. Once the Governor and Legislature have approved the rules, they may only be modified or revoked through the rulemaking process. The APA states that any agency shall not by internal policy, memorandum, or other action not otherwise authorized by the APA:

(1)   amend, interpret, implement or repeal a statute or a rule;

(2)   expand upon or limit a statute or rule; and;

(3)   except as authorized by the Constitution of the United States, the Oklahoma Constitution or a statute, expand or limit a right guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States, the Oklahoma Constitution, a statute, or a rule.

(h)   Petition Requesting Promulgation. Per the APA, any interested person or group may petition the Department requesting the promulgation, amendment, or repeal of a rule.

(1)   The petition must be submitted in writing to the Director of the Department of Rehabilitation Services at the Department's state office. A request to amend or repeal a rule will include a copy of the rule in question.

(2)   The Department shall act upon such a request within a reasonable time period; however; if the Department does not initiate rulemaking proceedings within 30 calendar days of receiving the request, the petition will be considered to have been denied.

[Source: Added at 14 Ok Reg 1428, eff 7-1-97; Amended at 23 Ok Reg 1975, eff 7-1-06; Amended at 26 Ok Reg 1688, eff 7-1-09; Amended at 27 Ok Reg 1584, eff 7-1-10; Amended at 31 Ok Reg 2382, eff 9-12-14; Amended at 33 Ok Reg 1043, eff 8-25-16]