In the county purchasing process, the board of county commissioners has the following general responsibilities:

• Approve all blanket purchase orders prior to actual purchase; 62 O.S. § 310.8(A)(1)
• Sign all contracts;
• Approve the payment of claims by signing the “Approval by Governing Body” portion of the Requisition - Purchase Order - Claim form:
• 19 O.S. § 3
• For any elected officials who will not immediately succeed themselves, the board of county commissioners cannot approve claims during the first six months of the fiscal year in which those officials’ terms will expire that exceed one-half of the total allocated operating budget for the entire fiscal year; 19 O.S. § 326
• The board of county commissioners cannot incur any indebtedness against the county that exceeds the amount appropriated for any specific item in the estimate of needs; 19 O.S. § 347(B)
• All claims that are held over for further information must be acted upon within 75 days from the date of the purchase order’s filing. Any Requisition - Purchase Order - Claim form not acted upon within 75 days is considered disallowed. 19 O.S. § 1505(F)(2)
• Open the bids and select winning vendors by determining the lowest and best bid:
• 19 O.S. § 1505(B)(4)
• Refer to Chapter Eleven, “Analyzing to Determine Lowest and Best Bids,” for a suggested selection procedure;
• Use SA&I Form 4045, Bid Record, to list the vendor responses to the invitation to bid as the bids are opened;
• An explanation must be entered into the minutes of the meeting if the lowest bid is not selected as the lowest and best bid; 19 O.S. § 1505(B)(4)
• An explanation must be entered into the minutes of the meeting if a bid other than that recommended by the officer is selected;
• Written recommendations from the requisitioning officer must be considered before final approval.
• Prescribe a uniform identification system and create and administer an inventory system for equipment of a county having an original cost of Twenty-Five Hundred Dollars ($2,500.00) or more and hardware/software (non-road/bridge) with an original cost of Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00):
• Refer to Chapter Thirteen, “Inventories of County”
• 19 O.S. § 1502(A)(B)
• Create and administer an inventory system for all consumable supplies and materials purchased in lots of Twenty-Five Hundred Dollars ($2,500.00) or more:
• 19 O.S. § 1502(A)(B)(2)
• Refer to Chapter Thirteen, “Inventories of County”
• Apply for credit cards to be used by the county sheriff's office and issue them to the county sheriff; 19 O.S. § 1506(B)
• Make application to the Oklahoma credit card system through Office of Management and Enterprise Services (OMES) on behalf of the county.

Blanket Bonds

The board of county commissioners shall purchase a surety contract or contracts in the form of a blanket bond from the lowest bidder to cover all county officers, appointive officers, employees, and reserve force deputy sheriffs.

• 19 O.S. § 1501~1505
• 74 O.S. §§ 85.2, 85.5, 85.5a

No other bond shall be accepted as surety for any elected or appointed county officer or employee unless the blanket bond is provided for as a specified item in an all-risk insurance policy purchased by the county.

The statutes define a “blanket bond” as a public employees' blanket position bond that covers all employees up to the penalty of the bond for each employee throughout their terms in office. The full penalty of the bond is always in force, no restoration is necessary, and no additional premium is required after a loss is paid. The district attorney shall bring an action on the blanket bond to recover any loss by the county which is covered by the bond.

19 O.S. § 622

The statutes do not address the recommended amount for the blanket bond for any county office except the county treasurer’s office. Each officer should ensure that the amount of the blanket bond is sufficient to cover any losses that might occur in their office. A copy of this bond should be kept on file in each officer’s office.
19 O.S. § 1503

All non-employee departments, such as rural fire, shall provide evidence of blanket bond coverage or employee dishonesty liability insurance coverage for their requisitioning and receiving officers. The coverage should be equal to the public dollars the individual (or department) has authority over. The bonds must be filed with the county clerk.

The County Sheriff

• 19 O.S. § 1506(A)
• 19 O.S. § 1507(A)
• 19 O.S. § 1507(B)

In the county purchasing process, the county sheriff also has the following responsibilities:

• Notify the board of county commissioners in writing of the need for credit cards to be used in the county sheriff’s office;
• Establish necessary controls and procedures to ensure that credit card use complies with the county purchasing laws as required by the statutes:
• Refer to Chapter Nine, “Credit Card Purchases.”

County Officers or Department Heads and Other Administrators

Note: All county offices, departments, boards, and other county entities are required to follow the county purchasing procedures defined in the statutes for all purchases made with county funds. All funds on deposit with the county are subject to the purchasing laws. For offices that are authorized to use cash voucher claims for expenditures, refer to “Cash Voucher Claim – Form 270” in Chapter Three.

Purchasing Restrictions

Whenever a county officer holding an elective office does not immediately serve a succeeding term in the same office, it shall be unlawful for the board of county commissioners, during the first six months of the fiscal year in which said term of office expires, to approve claims for the operation of said office totaling in excess of one-half the amount allocated for the operation of their office during that fiscal year, unless approval in writing is obtained from the county excise board, and any claim in excess and any warrant issued shall be null and void.
19 O.S. § 347(C)

It shall also be unlawful for a county officer holding an elective office who will not immediately serve a succeeding term in the same office to make any changes or alterations in the licensing or source code of computer software currently being used.
19 O.S. § 347(D)

Responsibilities

In addition to the specific responsibilities listed above for certain officers, all county officers, department heads, and other administrators have the following general responsibilities in the county purchasing process:

• 19 O.S. § 1501(A)(4)
• Ensure that purchasing is performed lawfully, that collusion and conflict of interest do not occur, and that purchases are made only from qualified vendors;
• Designate, in writing, one or two employees to act as requisitioning officers for their office or department:
• Refer to “The Requisitioning Officer” in this chapter for additional information.
• Designate two employees to act as receiving officers for their department:
• Refer to “The Receiving Officer” in this chapter for additional
• 19 O.S. § 1503(A)

Note: The State Auditor and Inspector (SA&I) discourages designating the same individual as both requisitioning officer and receiving officer. Separating these functions maintains the proper checks and balances and reduces the possibility of collusion between an employee and a vendor.

• Prepare and forward a list of commonly used items for bidding; 19 S. § 1505(B)(1)
• Review bids for special items requisitioned by their offices, and submit a written recommendation as to the lowest and best bid to the board of county commissioners prior to final approval by that board; 19 O.S. § 1505(B)(4)
• Prepare a written justification when a purchase exceeds the authorized amount on a blanket purchase order and attach it to the Requisition - Purchase Order - Claim form; 62 O.S. § 310.8(A)(2)

Warning: The State Auditor & Inspector (SA&I) strongly discourages overruns on purchase orders.

• Certify the existence of any emergency that requires the expenditure of funds not to exceed Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) and write an explanation to attach to the purchase order:
• 19 O.S. § 1505(I)
• Refer to “Emergency Purchases” in Chapter Six.

County Boards and Commissions

62 O.S. § 310.1

In addition to the responsibilities listed above, county boards and commissions not under the direct control of the board of county commissioners must designate purchasing officers by completing SA&I Form No. 429, Appointment of Requisitioning Officers, and enter the resolution into the minutes of their meeting and file a copy of the resolution with the county clerk.

• 19 O.S. § 1501(A)(4)
• 19 O.S. § 1503(B)
• 19 O.S. 1501(A)(4)

All non-employee departments, such as rural fire, shall provide evidence of blanket bond coverage or employee dishonesty liability insurance coverage.