The Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) announces a significant change for Vital Records and its customers. The agency is moving from an outdated ordering system to an online service that is more user friendly and consistent with other contemporary public services.

On Friday, July 10, Governor Stitt Amended Executive Order 2020-20. This action extends the Executive Order an additional thirty days, and in doing so extends Senate Bill 661, which provides that public bodies can hold meetings via teleconferencing or videoconferencing. SB 661 was passed by the House and Senate and signed by the Governor during the past legislative session.

Governor Kevin Stitt today announced that $4.2 million in CARES Act Coronavirus Relief Funds (CRF) is being distributed today to 18 city and county governments to offset expenses incurred due to impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic.

In conjunction with the State and Local Legal Center we have prepared the following information to help you better understand what happened with the court and how it might impact municipal government. Not to spoil the ending, but there is much we still don’t know and won’t until the State, Congress and the Tribes address jurisdictional issues created by the ruling.

Oklahoma should reevaluate its prohibition on cities and towns raising money from property taxes to fund municipal services, U.S. Sen. James Lankford said this week.

On Monday, the House and Senate held a joint press conference regarding agreed upon procedures for considering legislation for an indefinite period as a response to the COVID-19.

There are about 590 incorporated towns and cities scattered across Oklahoma. Some 520 of them are home to fewer than 7,000 people.

Needless to say, small-town issues are often at the forefront of discussions when the Oklahoma Congress of Mayors convenes. About 70 mayors took part in just such a gathering held recently at the state Capitol.

Five officials representing a wide range of experiences will be inducted September 19 into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame for City and Town Officials. The black-tie optional hall of fame induction ceremony will be at the Cox Convention Center in Tulsa in conjunction with the Annual Conference Banquet for the Oklahoma Municipal League.

Two Oklahoma Arts Council programs are changing as the agency adjusts to a new reality in state arts funding resulting from state budget cuts in recent years.

Four Sapulpa teenagers were honored at the recent Mayor’s Council of Oklahoma Summer Conference at the Stoney Creek Conference Center in Broken Arrow. The boys received recognition for coming to the rescue of their 90-year-old neighbor, Catherine Richie, when her house had caught fire.

The Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) has created on online tool to assist you in registering damage sustained from the recent storms, rain and flooding.