{"data":{"id":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-59-59-944","jurisdiction":"us-ok","citation":"Okla. Stat. tit. 59, § 59-944","heading":"Rebates, kickbacks, etc. - Permitting solicitation - Acts","body":"as employee or associate - Renting space or subleasing departments.\n\nA. It shall be unlawful for any optometrist, physician or other\n\nperson doing, or purporting or pretending to do eye examination or\n\nvisual correction to receive or accept any rebate, kickback, reward\n\nor premium from any optical company or any other person, firm or\n\ncorporation dealing in optical goods, appliances or materials, or\n\nknowingly allow or permit any person engaged in or interested in the\n\nsale of such optical goods, appliances, or materials, to solicit\n\nbusiness for any person licensed under the provisions of Chapters 11\n\nor 13 of this title. It shall be unlawful for any optometrist,\n\nphysician, or other person to make an eye examination, or do visual\n\ncorrection in any manner, either directly or indirectly as an\n\nemployee or associate of a person, firm, corporation, lay body,\n\norganization, group or lay person and it shall be likewise unlawful\n\nfor any corporation, lay body, organization, group or lay person in\n\nany manner to make an eye examination or perform any visual\n\ncorrection through the means of engaging the services on a salary,\n\ncommission or any other compensatory basis of a person licensed\n\nunder the provisions of Chapters 11 or 13 of this title, provided\n\nthat this sentence shall not apply to the University of Oklahoma\n\nSchool of Medicine and Hospitals, OSU College of Osteopathic\n\nMedicine or to a bona fide resident physician of a licensed\n\nhospital, and provided further that renting a separate area or room\n\nand practicing optometry within or adjacent to a retail store shall\n\nnot be considered a violation of this section.\n\nB. A person, firm, or corporation engaged in the business of\n\nretailing merchandise to the general public may rent a separate area\n\nor room within a retail store to an optometrist or optometric\n\nprofessional corporation for the practice of optometry in the\n\nfollowing counties:\n\n1. For the period beginning November 1, 2019, through October\n\n31, 2024, in counties having a population of three hundred thousand\n\n(300,000) or more persons according to the latest Federal Decennial\n\nCensus or most recent population estimate;\n\n2. For the period beginning November 1, 2024, through October\n\n31, 2029, in counties having a population of one hundred thirty\n\nthousand (130,000) persons or more according to the latest Federal\n\nDecennial Census or most recent population estimate;\n\n3. For the period beginning November 1, 2029, through October\n\n31, 2036, in counties having a population of one hundred thousand\n\n(100,000) persons or more according to the latest Federal Decennial\n\nCensus or most recent population estimate;\n\n4. For the period beginning November 1, 2036, through October\n\n31, 2042, in counties having a population of fifty thousand (50,000)\n\npersons or more according to the latest Federal Decennial Census or\n\nmost recent population estimate; and\n\n5. For the period beginning November 1, 2042, and for all\n\nperiods thereafter, all counties of the state.\n\nC. For separate areas or rooms rented for the practice of\n\noptometry pursuant to subsection B of this section, the area or room\n\nrented for the practice of optometry must be definite and apart from\n\nspace used by other occupants of the premises. Solid, opaque\n\npartitions or walls from floor to ceiling, which may contain doors\n\nand windows, must separate the area or room rented for the practice\n\nof optometry from space used by other occupants. The area or room\n\nrented for the practice of optometry must have a patient's entrance\n\nopening on a public thoroughfare, such as a public street, hall,\n\nlobby or corridor; provided that the space rented for the practice\n\nof optometry can also be accessible for a patient from the retail\n\nstore if the access is through a second room with a door such that\n\nthe patient does not have access to the space rented for the\nrented for the practice of optometry must have a patient's entrance\n\nopening on a public thoroughfare, such as a public street, hall,\n\nlobby or corridor; provided that the space rented for the practice\n\nof optometry can also be accessible for a patient from the retail\n\nstore if the access is through a second room with a door such that\n\nthe patient does not have access to the space rented for the\n\npractice of optometry directly from the general retail area of the\n\nretail store. Renting a separate area or room and practicing\n\noptometry within or adjacent to a retail store shall not be\n\nconsidered a rebate, kickback, reward or premium.\n\nD. No lessor shall include a requirement in any lease of real\n\nproperty pursuant to which an optometrist or the professional\n\nbusiness entity owned by the optometrist is required to maintain\n\nspecific hours of operation or which provides for payment of rent or\n\nreduction of rent based on the gross revenues of the optometrist or\n\nthe professional business entity, whether characterized as\n\nproduction goals, patient visits or similar economic metrics or that\n\nrequires or provides any type of incentive through the lease terms\n\nbased on referrals by the optometrist or the professional business\n\nentity owned by the optometrist for purposes of the sale of any form\n\nof tangible personal property sold by the lessor, including, but not\n\nlimited to, eyeglasses, frames, eye care products, eyeglass\n\naccessories or similar tangible personal property related to care of\n\nthe human eye.\n\nE. A person, firm or corporation engaged in the business of\n\nretailing merchandise to the general public may sell optical goods,\n\nappliances or materials and function as an optical supplier in a\n\nretail store, regardless of whether a majority of the retail store's\n\nincome is derived from the sale of prescription optical goods,\n\nappliances and materials or whether an optometrist is practicing\n\noptometry in such retail store.\n\nF. Optical goods, appliances or materials shall be subject to\n\nall provisions regarding below cost sales set forth in the Unfair\n\nSales Act created in Section 598.1 et seq. of Title 15 of the\n\nOklahoma Statutes.\n\nG. Nothing in this section shall prohibit a person licensed\n\nunder Chapter 11 or Chapter 13 of this title from organizing or\n\nmaintaining a professional association with other persons so\n\nlicensed.","path":["OK Code","Title 59"],"source_url":"https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os59.pdf","current_through":"2026-08-14","vintage":"open-us-law v2026.08, retrieved 2026-09-14","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T18:32:36Z","sha256":"9d4cb3578b7977b6e2ab003b47ee30f52aec80338d0a08f0c7edc04cd1e901ec","source_id":"us-ok","stale":false,"prev":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-59-59-943.3","next":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-59-59-945"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}