Commissioner Position Not Included in Push for Term-limits in Okla.

August 31, 2007

Supporters of an initiative petition that proposes term limits for many statewide elected offices in Oklahoma will not seek to limit the terms of the state insurance commissioner and three corporation commissioners.

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James Dunn, chairman of Yes for Term Limits, said including them in the petition with other statewide officers might violate a constitutional prohibition against having more than one subject on an initiative petition ballot.

The petition proposes a limit of two, four-year terms for lieutenant governor, state auditor and inspector, attorney general, state treasurer, labor commissioner and superintendent of public instruction, Dunn said.

The section of the Oklahoma Constitution that sets terms for those six offices is separate from sections involving the insurance commissioner and corporation commissioners.

Dunn, an Oklahoma City attorney who ran unsuccessfully as a Republican candidate for attorney general last year, had initially said a mistake was made by not including the insurance commissioner and corporation commissioners in the term-limit proposal, State Question 736.

But after consulting with lawyers who drafted the petition, Dunn said the omission was deliberate to avoid the possibility of a constitutional problem.

"We are not going to amend the petition out of fear the Supreme Court will strike it down,'' Dunn said.

The initiative petition was filed with the Secretary of State on Aug. 16. Dunn's group has 90 days to get valid signatures of a minimum of 138,970 registered Oklahoma voters to clear the first hurdle for placing the question before Oklahoma voters.

Limiting the terms of public officials is not new to Oklahoma. The governor is limited to two successive terms. In 1990, Oklahoma voters imposed a 12-year term limit on members of the Legislature.

In 1994, Oklahoma voters approved six-year term limits on Oklahoma's U.S. representatives and senators, but the U.S. Supreme Court later said states cannot set qualifications for federal officeholders.