A. The State Department of Rehabilitation Services shall be under the Merit System. Except as otherwise provided in this section, all offices, positions and personnel shall be classified and subject to the provisions of the Merit System of Personnel Administration and rules promulgated hereunder. This section shall supersede and repeal any and all executive orders issued pursuant to Section 840-1.1 et seq. of this title to place the agency or its predecessors under the Merit System.

B. In addition to offices, positions and personnel that are unclassified pursuant to Section 840-5.5 of this title, the Director of the State Department of Rehabilitation Services may establish positions in the unclassified service and place employees in the positions provided the total number of unclassified positions does not exceed fifty-two. This limit does not include State Department of Rehabilitation Services employees subject to Section 840-5.3 of this title.

C. The limit on unclassified positions provided for in subsection B of this section shall not apply to the instructional and administrative personnel at the Oklahoma School for the Blind and the Oklahoma School for the Deaf as listed in Section 1419 of Title 10 of the Oklahoma Statutes.

D. The limit on unclassified positions provided for in subsection B of this section shall not apply to the employees of the Disability Determination Services of the State Department of Rehabilitation Services. The Director of the State Department of Rehabilitation Services may establish positions in the unclassified service in the Disability Determination Services and may place employees in those positions provided the total number of those unclassified positions does not exceed twenty-one.

E. Instructional and administrative personnel of the State Department of Rehabilitation Services at the Oklahoma School for the Blind and the Oklahoma School for the Deaf pursuant to Section 1419 of Title 10 of the Oklahoma Statutes shall be considered unclassified state employees solely for the purpose of entering and maintaining employment data in the state Personnel Management Information System established pursuant to Section 840-2.13 of this title, unless otherwise provided by law.

Added by Laws 1994, c. 242, § 14. Amended by Laws 1995, c. 106, § 1, eff. July 1, 1995; Laws 1995, c. 269, § 4, eff. July 1, 1995; Laws 1996, c. 327, § 3, eff. Nov. 1, 1996; Laws 1998, c. 388, § 6, eff. July 1, 1998; Laws 2001, c. 381, § 15, eff. July 1, 2001; Laws 2003, c. 93, § 5, eff. July 1, 2003; Laws 2008, c. 300, § 2, eff. July 1, 2008; Laws 2015, c. 64, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2015; Laws 2019, c. 52, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2019.