OKLAHOMA CITY – State Transportation Secretary Tim Gatz, who also is the director of both the state Transportation Department and the state Turnpike Authority, is paid more than every elected state official and most appointed state agency directors.
For example, his $185,000 is $60,600 more than State School Superintendent Joy Hofmeister. She is the chief of the State Department of Education, which has 402 employees who administer the state’s education policies and direct the administration and supervision of Oklahoma’s 509 public school districts, their 42,550 teachers and administrators, and their 703,650 students. Ms. Hofmeister is paid $124,373, an amount set in state statute by the Legislature.
Gov. Kevin Stitt’s salary is $147,000 (established by state statute). The Governor is the chief executive officer of state government, which had almost 33,000 employees on Dec. 20 (not including schoolteachers and college/university professors).
Attorney General John O’Connor, the state’s chief legal and law enforcement officer, receives $132,825 (established by statute).
Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell is paid $114,713 (set by statute).
State Treasurer Randy McDaniel is paid $114,713 (per statute).
State Insurance Commissioner Glen Mulready receives $114,713 (per statute).
State Auditor and Inspector Cindy Byrd’s salary also is $114,713 (set by statute).
Corporation Commissioners Dana Murphy, Bob Anthony and Todd Hiett, whose agency regulates Oklahoma’s oil and gas industry, are paid $114,713 each (per statute).
State Labor Commissioner Leslie Osborn earns $105,053 (set by statute).
House Speaker Charles McCall and Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat receive $65,432 each. Salaries of state lawmakers are established by the Legislative Compensation Board.
Other salaries listed
Other pay scales, according to a state government payroll database for July, August, September and October, include:
Shelley Zumwalt, executive director of the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission, which has approximately 550 employees: $175,000. Saddled with an antiquated, 40-year-old computer mainframe, the OESC nevertheless managed to pay out slightly more than $5.2 billion in state and federal unemployment benefits over the past 22 months to jobless Oklahomans coping with the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic that settled in Oklahoma in mid-March 2020.
Scott Thompson, executive director of the Department of Environmental Quality: $173,589. That agency, which monitors the quality of this state’s air and water, has an authorized FTE of 517.
Julie Cunningham, director of the Oklahoma Water Resources Board: $123,953.
Dr. Marcie Mack, director of the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education: $170,000.
J.D. Strong, director of the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation: $152,757.
Conservation Commission Executive Director Trey Lam: $126,500.
Department of Mines Director Mary Ann Pritchard: $92,700.
Department of Veterans Affairs Executive Director Joel Kintsel: $151,286.
State Agriculture Commissioner Blayne Arthur: $129,230.
State Election Board Secretary Paul Ziriax: $117,885.
Tourism and Recreation Department Executive Director Jerry Winchester: $124,615.
Oklahoma Historical Society Executive Director Trait Thompson: $125,000.
Corrections Director Scott Crow: $185,000. Corrections had a total system population on Dec. 16 of 57,520 offenders: 25,157 incarcerated inmates, 568 convicts in county jails awaiting transfer to the prison system, and 31,795 offenders on community sentencing (parole, probation, GPS monitoring, etc.). The agency has 3,600 employees; 17 penal institutions; 15 work centers (including facilities at Altus, Frederick, Hobart, Hollis, Mangum and Walters); eight halfway houses; and some inmates are incarcerated in four private prisons (including the medium-security Lawton Correctional Facility).
Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation Director Ricky Adams: $133,350.
Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control Director Donnie Anderson: $130,000.
Department of Public Safety Commissioner Tim Tipton: $125,082.
Keith Burt, director of the Alcoholic Beverage Laws Enforcement Commission: $136,056.
Department of Human Services Director Justin Brown: $217,495. The 6,015 employees of Oklahoma’s DHS provide a wide range of assistance programs to help Oklahomans in need. OKDHS-managed programs include food benefits (SNAP); temporary cash assistance (TANF); services for persons with developmental disabilities and persons who are aging; adult protective services; child welfare programs; child support services; and child care assistance, licensing and monitoring. OKDHS also handles applications and eligibility for Sooner Care, the state’s Medicaid health-care program for low-income families.
Steven Harpe, executive director of the state Office of Management and Enterprise Services: $253,846.
Oklahoma Supreme Court Chief Justice Richard Darby: $172,049.
Oklahoma Supreme Court Justices Douglas L. Combs, James E. Edmondson, Noma Gurich, John Kane IV, Yvonne Kauger, Dana Kuehn, Dustin P. Rowe and James R. Winchester: $161,112 each.
Scott Rowland, presiding judge, Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals: $166,764.
State Court of Criminal Appeals judges Robert L. Hudson, David B. Lewis and Gary Lumpkin: $161,112 each.
State Court of Civil Appeals judge Barbara Swinton, $155,459; and judges Brian Goree, John Fischer, Jane Wiseman, E. Bay Mitchell, Robert Bell, Deborah B. Barnes and Keith Rapp, $152,632 each.
Medical, Higher Ed
Dr. Jason R. Sanders, Provost and Senior Vice President of the OU Health Sciences Center: $499,154.
Dr. Eric Pfeifer, chief medical examiner: $320,000.
Kevin Corbett, CEO of the Oklahoma Health Care Authority and state Secretary of Health and Mental Health: $346,632. The OHCA has a staff of 550, operates on a budget of more than $8 billion and administers the state Medicaid program, which has 1,155,000 enrolled members (57% children, 43% adults).
State Health Commissioner Lance Frye: $309,378.
Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services Commissioner Carrie Slatton-Hodges: $159,986.
Former State Chancellor of Higher Education Glen D. Johnson, who retired earlier this month: $316,032 in salary ($26,336/month) plus $210,992 in benefits. Oklahoma’s institutions of higher education have 1,221 professors, 941 associate professors, 996 assistant professors, and 1,773 instructors. The State Regents of Higher Education operate with a staff of 160.
University of Oklahoma President Joseph Harroz: $525,620.
Dr. Kayse Shrum, a doctor of osteopathic medicine who is president of Oklahoma State University, which operates an osteopathic hospital at Tulsa: $650,000.
Dr. Steve Turner, president of Northeastern Oklahoma State University: $354,715.
Patti Neuhold-Ravikumar, president of the University of Central Oklahoma: $259,830.