A. Beginning January 1, 1997, each district attorney shall receive a salary of Seventy-one Thousand Six Hundred Sixty-three Dollars ($71,663.00) per year, payable monthly. Beginning January 1, 1999, each district attorney shall receive a salary of Eighty-five Thousand Dollars ($85,000.00) per year, payable monthly. Beginning July 1, 2003, each district attorney shall receive a salary equal to ninety-eight percent (98%) of the salary of a district judge. Any increase in salary in fiscal year 2015 must be paid from existing available funds.

B. All appointees and employees of district attorneys, except special district attorneys appointed pursuant to subsection C of Section 215.37M of this title, shall be deemed to be state officers or employees for all purposes. All special district attorneys appointed pursuant to subsection C of Section 215.37M of this title shall be deemed to be state officers only for purposes of The Governmental Tort Claims Act and Rule 1.11 of the Rules of Professional Conduct for attorneys licensed to practice law in this state.

C. Population, for the purposes of Section 215.1 et seq. of this title, shall be as determined by the last Federal Decennial Census. The salaries of the district attorneys and the salaries of the assistant district attorneys and their operating and maintenance expenses in each county shall be paid by the state. Provided however:

1. In counties having a population of four hundred thousand (400,000) or more, the salary of the district attorney and assistant district attorneys may be supplemented by the county. Such supplement for the district attorney shall not exceed twenty-five percent (25%) of the salary provided for district attorneys by this section. Such supplement for the assistant district attorneys shall not exceed twenty-five percent (25%) of the salary authorized for assistant district attorneys in Section 215.34 of this title.

2. The salaries and operating expenses of those assistant district attorneys who are assigned to child support enforcement duties shall be paid by funds received as reimbursement from the Department of Human Services under terms of a contract with the office of the district attorney as authorized by Section 237.1 of Title 56 of the Oklahoma Statutes.

D. The District Attorneys Council, which may hereinafter be referred to as the "Council", is hereby designated as the state agency for the administration and disbursement of all salaries and expenses of the offices of district attorneys authorized by law. All such payrolls and claims against State Treasury funds must be approved by the Council prior to submission to the Office of Management and Enterprise Services for payment. The Council and the Director of the Office of Management and Enterprise Services shall promulgate reasonable rules and regulations covering the preparation of estimates of needs, budgets and claims for the administration of this act, Section 215.1 et seq. of this title, the transmittal of county funds to the State Treasury and the disbursement of all state and county funds under this act.