Section 371 - Contracts with officers void - ExceptionsA. Except as otherwise provided in this section, no board of county commissioners, nor city council, nor board of trustees of any town, nor any district board of any school district in this state, nor any board of any local subdivision of this state shall make any contract with any of its members, or in which any of its members shall be directly or indirectly interested. All contracts made in violation of this section shall be wholly void. However, for the purposes of this section, the following shall not be considered the making of a contract:
1. The depositing of any funds in a bank or other depository;2. Any contract with a qualified nonprofit Internal Revenue Code Section 50l(c)(3) organization, except for contracts paying salaries or expenses or except a contract entered into by a school district involving the counseling or instruction of students or staff;3. Monthly billings submitted to any county or local subdivision of the state for public utility companies, electric cooperatives or telephone companies, whose services are regulated by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, or billings of the utility companies, electric cooperatives or telephone companies pertaining to installations or changes in service, where tariffs for the charges or billings by the companies are on file with the Oklahoma Corporation Commission. In addition, the governing board of a technology center school district may enter into a contract for the technology center school district to provide training for a company, individual, or business concern by which a member of the board is employed. A board member shall abstain from voting on any such contract between the technology center school district board and the company, individual, or business concern by which the member is employed.
B. The provisions of this section shall not apply to: 1. Those municipal officers who are subject to Section 8-113 of Title 11 of the Oklahoma Statutes; or2. A member of any board of education of a school district or a director or member of any rural water, sewer, gas and solid waste management district organized pursuant to Section 1324.1 et seq. of Title 82 of the Oklahoma Statutes in this state which does not include any part of a municipality with a population greater than two thousand five hundred (2,500) according to the latest Federal Decennial Census when the board member is the only person who owns or operates a business which is the only business of that type within ten (10) miles of the corporate limits of the municipality. However, any activities permitted by this subsection shall not exceed Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) for any single activity and shall not exceed Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00) for all activities in any calendar year.
C. The provisions of this section shall not apply to conservation district board members participating in programs authorized by Section 3-2-106 of Title 27A of the Oklahoma Statutes.D. Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, any officer, director or employee of a financial institution may serve on a board of a public body. Provided, the member shall abstain from voting on any matter relating to a transaction between or involving the financial institution in which the member is associated and the public body in which the member serves.E. The provisions of this section shall not apply to any board of county commissioners purchasing motor fuel for exclusive use by the county from a cooperative agricultural association in which a member of the board of county commissioners has a financial or proprietary interest. The county commissioner having a financial or proprietary interest in the cooperative agricultural association shall abstain from voting on any such purchase or contract between the county and the cooperative agricultural association. Except as provided in this subsection, the purchasing procedures required by law for counties and county officers shall not otherwise be modified.F. A member of a board of county commissioners, city council, board of trustees of any town, district board of any school district in this state, or of any board of any local subdivision of this state shall not be considered to be directly or indirectly interested in any contract with a person or entity that employs such member or the spouse of the member, if the member or the spouse of the member has an interest in the employing entity of five percent (5%) or less.Okla. Stat. tit. 62, § 371
R.L. 1910, § 6776; Amended by Laws 1971, c. 268, § 1, emerg. eff. 6/17/1971; Amended by Laws 1987, c. 102, § 1, emerg. eff. 5/22/1987; Amended by Laws 1989, c. 131, § 4, eff. 11/1/1989; Amended by Laws 1992, c. 394, § 1, emerg. eff. 6/10/1992; Amended by Laws 1995, c. 118, § 2, eff. 11/1/1995; Amended by Laws 1996, c. 341, § 3, eff. 11/1/1996; Amended by Laws 1997, c. 39, § 1, eff. 11/1/1997; Amended by Laws 1997, c. 317, § 3, emerg. eff. 5/29/1997; Amended by Laws 1998, c. 365, § 7, eff. 7/1/1998; Amended by Laws 1999, c. 43, § 2, eff. 11/1/1999; Amended by Laws 2001 , HB 1214, c. 33, §56, emerg. eff. 7/1/2001; Amended by Laws 2004 , SB 1295, c. 68, §2, emerg. eff. 4/7/2004.