A. Provided the United States government provides funding to the United States Department of Veterans Affairs for the Oklahoma Veterans Inpatient Facility in Tulsa through the Communities Helping Invest through Property and Improvements Needed for Veterans Act of 2016 (CHIP IN for Vets Act), effective January 1, 2021, title, ownership and possession of the Robert S. Kerr and J. Howard Edmondson State Office Buildings and all real estate and structures, parking and other improvements attached thereto, located at 440 and 444 S. Houston Street in Tulsa County, are hereby transferred to the Board of Regents for the Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical Colleges. Provided such transfer occurs, related construction shall commence no later than July 1, 2021.
B. The Office of Management and Enterprise Services shall take all actions necessary to reflect such transfer in the land records of Tulsa County and to transfer all leases for space within the buildings to the Board of Regents for the Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical Colleges as lessor. Tenants under said leases shall continue to have quiet enjoyment of the premises until relocation to new quarters.
C. Beginning July 1, 2021, for state agencies housed within the Robert S. Kerr and J. Howard Edmondson buildings, up to one hundred thousand (100,000) square feet shall be made available to tenants, and such tenants shall pay the monthly rental rate, determined by the Office of Management and Enterprise Services, to the Board of Regents for the Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical Colleges until such time as those agencies are relocated. The Office of Management and Enterprise Services and tenants of the Robert S. Kerr and J. Howard Edmondson State Office Buildings may, at their discretion, remove selected fixtures, furniture and equipment, including signage, that are not critical to the operation of the buildings.
D. Upon transfer, the Board of Regents for the Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical Colleges shall become solely responsible for operation and maintenance of the Robert S. Kerr and J. Howard Edmondson buildings. Operation and maintenance shall include payment of all utilities, insurance, assessments, agreements and other expenses. At the discretion of the Board of Regents for the Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical Colleges, contracts for goods and services for operation and maintenance of the Robert S. Kerr and J. Howard Edmondson buildings may be assigned by the Office of Management and Enterprise Services to the Board.
E. The Office of Management and Enterprise Services is hereby authorized to lease and purchase properties and facilities owned or purchased by the Commissioners of the Land Office, within the Tulsa metro area for the relocation of the state agencies currently housed within the Robert S. Kerr and J. Howard Edmondson buildings. The Office of Management and Enterprise Services shall make all reasonable efforts to identify suitable space for the affected agencies and to relocate the affected agencies as soon as possible. Under no circumstances shall the affected state agencies be forced out of the Robert S. Kerr and J. Howard Edmondson State Office Buildings prior to December 31, 2021, or such later date as agreed to by the affected state agencies, if such delays arise out of or are caused by, directly or indirectly, forces beyond the control of the Office of Management and Enterprise Services.
Added by Laws 2020, c. 131, § 1, emerg. eff. May 21, 2020.