To address the continuing threat of terrorism and to work with the federal Department of Homeland Security (created in 2002 following the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001), homeland security in Oklahoma in 2003 operated under state statute; the safety/security secretary was designated as the state homeland security advisor.
The Oklahoma Department of Education, functioning under a six-member appointed Board of Education and an elected superintendent of public instruction, has responsibility for all phases of education through the first 12 grades. Postsecondary study is under the general authority of the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education and 16 separate boards of regents associated with one or more institutions. Vocational and technical education, a federal-state cooperative program, is administered in Oklahoma under the Department of Vocational and Technical Education. The Department of Transportation has authority over the planning, construction, and maintenance of the state highway system. The Oklahoma Corporation Commission regulates transportation and transmission companies, public utilities, motor carriers, and the oil and gas industry, while the Oklahoma Aeronautics Commission participates in financing airports.
The Department of Health has as a major function the control and prevention of communicable diseases; it administers community health program funds and licenses most health-related facilities. The Department of Human Services oversees the care of neglected children, delinquent youths, and the mentally retarded and operates various facilities and programs for the handicapped, the elderly, and the infirm.
Protective services are supplied through the Oklahoma Military Department, which administers the Army and Air National Guard; the Department of Corrections, overseeing the state penitentiary and reformatory, nine adult correctional centers, and eight community treatment centers; and the Department of Public Safety, with general safety and law enforcement responsibilities, among which are licensing drivers and patrolling the highways. Natural resource protection services are centered principally in the Oklahoma Conservation Commission. The Department of Wildlife Conservation and the Wildlife Conservation Commission administer the game and fish laws.