{"data":{"id":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-74-74-5060.9","jurisdiction":"us-ok","citation":"Okla. Stat. tit. 74, § 74-5060.9","heading":"Powers of Oklahoma Science and Technology Research and","body":"Development Board - Tax exemptions - Administrative policies.\n\nA. The Oklahoma Science and Technology Research and Development\n\nBoard shall have the power to:\n\n1. Make, amend and repeal bylaws for the management of the\n\nCenter;\n\n2. Sue and be sued;\n\n3. Make contracts and execute all instruments necessary or\n\nconvenient for carrying out the business of the Center;\n\n4. Acquire, own, hold, dispose of and encumber real or personal\n\nproperty of any nature, including tangible, intangible, commercial\n\nor intellectual, or any interest therein;\n\n5. Enter into agreements or other transactions with any\n\nfederal, state, county or municipal agency, authority or other\n\ngovernmental entity and with any individual, corporation,\n\nenterprise, association or any other entity involving research and\n\ntechnology;\n\n6. Acquire real property or an interest therein, by purchase or\n\nforeclosure, where such acquisition is necessary or appropriate to\n\nprotect or secure any investment or loan in which the Center has an\n\ninterest;\n\n7. Sell, transfer and convey any such property to a buyer, and\n\nin the event such sale, transfer or conveyance cannot be effected\n\nwith reasonable promptness or at a reasonable price, to lease such\n\nproperty to a tenant;\n\n8. Invest any funds provided by the state and held in reserve\n\nin funds not required for immediate disbursement and invest funds\n\nreceived from gifts, grants, donations and other operations of the\n\nCenter in such investments as would be lawful for a private\n\ncorporation having purposes similar to the Center;\n\n9. Borrow money and give guaranties, provided that the\n\nindebtedness and other obligations of the Center shall be payable\n\nsolely out of the resources of the Center and shall not constitute a\n\npledge of the full faith and credit of the state or any of its\n\nrevenues;\n\n10. Appoint officers, consultants, agents and advisors, and\n\nprescribe their duties and compensation;\n\n11. Appear on its own behalf or on behalf of the Center before\n\nboards, commissions, departments or other agencies of municipal,\n\ncounty or state government or federal government;\n\n12. Procure insurance against any losses in connection with its\n\nproperties in such amounts from such insurers as may be necessary or\n\ndesirable;\n\n13. Consent, subject to the provisions of any contract with\n\nnote-holders, whenever it considers it necessary or desirable in the\n\nfulfillment of the goals and purposes of the Center, to the\n\nmodifications, with respect to the rate of interest, time payment or\n\nof any installment, of principal and interest or any terms of any\n\ncontract or agreement of any kind to which the Center is a party;\n\n14. Accept any and all donations, grants, bequests and devises,\n\nconditional and otherwise, of money, property, services or other\n\nthings of value which may be received from the United States or any\n\nagency thereof, any governmental agency, or any institution, person,\n\nfirm or corporation, public or private, to be held, used or applied\n\nfor any or all of the goals and purposes of the Center, in\n\naccordance with the terms and conditions of any such grant;\n\n15. Trade, buy or sell qualified securities;\n\n16. Own, possess and take license in, patents, copyrights and\n\nproprietary processes and negotiate and enter into contracts and\n\nestablish charges for the use of such patents, copyrights and\n\nproprietary processes when such patents and licenses for innovation\n\nor inventions result from research sponsored by the Center in a\n\nprivate enterprise or when the Center finances a product developed\n\nby a private enterprise;\n\n17. Establish policies governing royalty payments to the Center\n\non patents and licenses for innovations or inventions arising in the\n\ncourse of research sponsored by the Center at institutions of higher\n\neducation and nonprofit research foundations; such royalty policies\nrch sponsored by the Center in a\n\nprivate enterprise or when the Center finances a product developed\n\nby a private enterprise;\n\n17. Establish policies governing royalty payments to the Center\n\non patents and licenses for innovations or inventions arising in the\n\ncourse of research sponsored by the Center at institutions of higher\n\neducation and nonprofit research foundations; such royalty policies\n\nshould reflect an appropriate sharing of legal risk as well as\n\nfinancial return between the Center and such institution or\n\nfoundation; such patents and licenses shall be in keeping with the\n\npatent policies of such institutions or foundations;\n\n18. Conduct studies which are related to economic development,\n\ninvolving product or process innovations;\n\n19. Solicit, study and assist in the preparation of business\n\nplans and proposals of new or established enterprises of special\n\nimportance to the Oklahoma economy;\n\n20. Prepare, publish and distribute such technological studies,\n\nreports, bulletins and other materials as it considers appropriate,\n\nsubject only to the maintenance and responsibility for\n\nconfidentiality of the client proprietary information, and encourage\n\ninstitutions of higher education to develop and disseminate similar\n\nmaterials;\n\n21. Sponsor, or co-sponsor with both private industry and\n\nhigher education institutions, special institutes, conferences and\n\ndemonstrations relating to the stimulation of innovation, science\n\nand technologically oriented enterprises;\n\n22. Participate with any state agency or institution of higher\n\neducation in developing specific goals, programs and performance\n\nmonitoring systems to assist in the development of basic research,\n\napplied research and technology transfer of special importance to\n\nthe Oklahoma economy;\n\n23. Provide scientific and technological data and information\n\nrequired by the Governor, the Legislature, or its committees, and to\n\nstate agencies, institutions of higher education and cities, towns,\n\ncounties and school districts and to private citizens and groups,\n\nwithin the limitations of the resources available to the Center;\n\n24. Provide training and practical experience for Oklahoma\n\nresearchers in the preparation of applications for peer-reviewed\n\ngrant competitions;\n\n25. Facilitate public/private partnerships that will support\n\nthe creation of endowed chairs, scholarships, research grants, and\n\nbusiness opportunities;\n\n26. Develop policies and procedures for partnering with and/or\n\nbetween universities offering engineering or technology degrees in\n\nOklahoma to facilitate joint public/private technology research and\n\ndevelopment projects using resources and facilities of such public\n\nhigher education institutions or private entities; provided that,\n\nthe Board shall utilize, and accord lead status to, Rogers State\n\nUniversity for coordinating and delivering higher education distance\n\nlearning opportunities initiated or developed by the Board;\n\n27. Advertise for, accept, and fund proposals from\n\nuniversities, private industries, towns, counties, municipalities,\n\nand individuals to achieve its goals and purposes;\n\n28. Collaborate with the various entities to develop\n\ninitiatives which foster economic development through technological\n\nadvancement;\n\n29. Create institutes or centers with world-class research\n\nteams that support the state's primary economic development thrusts;\n\nand\n\n30. Exercise any other powers necessary for the operation and\n\nfunctioning of the Center within the purposes authorized in this\n\nact.\n\nB. The Center shall be exempt from all franchise, corporate\n\nbusiness and income taxes levied by the state. The manufacture or\n\nsale of any products or processes which are the subject of any\n\nagreement made by the Center, or any person entering into any\n\nagreement with the Center shall not be exempt from any such taxes or\n\ntaxes applicable to such manufacture or sale.\nses authorized in this\n\nact.\n\nB. The Center shall be exempt from all franchise, corporate\n\nbusiness and income taxes levied by the state. The manufacture or\n\nsale of any products or processes which are the subject of any\n\nagreement made by the Center, or any person entering into any\n\nagreement with the Center shall not be exempt from any such taxes or\n\ntaxes applicable to such manufacture or sale.\n\nC. The Center shall include in the annual business plan\n\nappropriate administrative policies, including but not limited to\n\npolicies governing the classification, employment, promotion,\n\nsuspension, disciplinary action or dismissal of Center employees,\n\npurchasing, travel, and reimbursement of employees. All actions\n\ngoverned by said administrative policies shall be examined annually\n\nin the independent audit required by Section 5060.22 of this title.\n\nThe Center shall not be subject to state purchasing laws, except\n\nwith respect to purchases required for the administrative expenses\n\nof the Board, or laws concerning travel or reimbursement of state\n\nemployees. Professional service contracts executed by the Center\n\nshall not be subject to any requirement of law relating to\n\ncompetitive bidding.\n\nBecause many of the powers and duties of the Center involve\n\nworking closely with the private sector, certain employee positions\n\nof the Center must be governed, classified and compensated in a\n\nmanner that compares equally to similar positions in the private\n\nsector. Therefore, in the annual business plan, the Board shall\n\nlist, describe and justify all such positions and their compensation\n\nand shall designate and place them in unclassified status, exempt\n\nfrom the provisions of the Oklahoma Personnel Act. All other\n\nemployees and positions shall be classified and subject to the\n\nprovisions of the Merit System of Personnel Administration as\n\nprovided in the Oklahoma Personnel Act. Provided, nothing in this\n\nsection shall be construed to limit the authority of the Legislature\n\nto specify the status of positions otherwise by law. Neither shall\n\nthe Board have the authority to circumvent, disregard or otherwise\n\ndisobey specific provisions of law regarding positions in the\n\nCenter.\n\nD. Upon approval of the Board, the Center shall have the\n\nauthority to exercise the powers enumerated in subsection A of this\n\nsection.","path":["OK Code","Title 74"],"source_url":"https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os74.pdf","current_through":"2026-08-14","vintage":"open-us-law v2026.08, retrieved 2026-09-14","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T18:32:36Z","sha256":"0565a6b6a20a3b09981a8830497e1841e8aea6836e25f4aa6abe73f9531144b5","source_id":"us-ok","stale":false,"prev":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-74-74-5060.8","next":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-74-74-5060.9a-1"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}