A. There is hereby created in the State Treasury a revolving fund to be known as the Wildlife Conservation Fund, which shall consist of all monies heretofore or hereafter appropriated to, on deposit in, or credited to the State Game and Fish Fund created by Section 115 of Title 29 of the 1951 Oklahoma Statutes, and, in addition thereto, all license fees, penalties, fines or forfeitures and bond forfeitures collected by the state, any subdivision thereof, any public official or any other person for the violation of the wildlife conservation laws of this state, and all donations for such purposes as well as all monies received by the Department and all interest accruing therefrom. All monies accruing to the fund shall be subject to the following budgetary limitations:
1. Full-time-equivalent employees;
2. Personal services expenditures;
3. Federal fund expenditures; and
4. Total expenditures.
B. The expenditures of the Wildlife Conservation Fund shall be under the control and supervision of the Commission, and all claims against said fund shall be paid on its itemized voucher form, prepared by said Commission and sworn to by the claimant, and/or vendor's invoices as authorized under Section 86.1, Title 74 of the Oklahoma Statutes. All such claims when duly signed and sworn to shall be audited by the Commission and/or designated employees and, upon final approval, vouchers which are payable from said fund shall be forwarded to the Director of the Office of Management and Enterprise Services. Upon approval thereof, warrants shall issue according to law, and said warrants shall be paid by the State Treasurer from said fund. A reserve fund of not less than One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00) shall be maintained to be used in emergencies only, by and with the consent of the Governor, and an additional reserve fund of not less than Two Hundred Thousand Dollars ($200,000.00) shall be maintained for the liquidation of unissued licenses purchased by authorized agents for sale which have remained unsold when such unissued licenses are returned for refunds as provided for by law.
C. All fees, monies or funds arising from the operation and transactions of the Commission and from the application and administration of the laws and regulations pertaining to the wildlife resources of the state and from the sale of property used for said purposes shall be expended and used by said Commission for the control, management, restoration, conservation and regulation of the wildlife resources of the state, including the purchase or other acquisition of property for said purposes, and for the administration of the laws pertaining thereto and for no other purposes.
Added by Laws 1974, c. 17, § 3-302, emerg. eff. April 8, 1974. Amended by Laws 1994, c. 382, § 55, eff. Sept. 1, 1994; Laws 2012, c. 304, § 117.