Senior adviser in Oklahoma House tapped to lead OMES

Rick Rose was appointed on Wednesday as director of the Office of Management and Enterprise Services. (Photo provided by the Office of the Governor)

OKLAHOMA CITY — A top adviser to Oklahoma’s House speaker has been chosen to lead the state Office of Management and Enterprise Services.

Rick Rose is Gov. Kevin Stitt’s pick as the next director of OMES, a state agency that provides a litany of administrative and human resources services for the rest of the state government.

Stitt appointed Rose to the position on Wednesday. Rose will succeed interim director Katie DeMuth, who has led the agency since June 14 when former OMES director John Suter left for the private sector. Suter had led OMES since 2022.

The governor commended Rose for having a “deep understanding of state government and firm commitment to serving Oklahomans.”

“To be a Top Ten state, we need a government that works for the people,” Stitt said when announcing the appointment. “I’m confident that under Rick’s leadership, OMES will continue to be a driving force in making that a reality.”

Rose served as the chief of staff and senior counsel for House Speaker Charles McCall, R-Atoka. McCall is completing his final year in legislative office because of term limits.

Rose also has been an attorney focused on energy and business litigation as a partner at the Mahaffey & Gore law firm.

He earned a bachelor of science in organizational leadership from Southern Nazarene University and his law degree from Oklahoma City University.

“It is an honor to serve my state,” Rose said in a statement. “I am eager to work with the governor and the team at OMES to modernize state government and make government work for the people of Oklahoma.”

Neither OMES nor the Governor’s Office immediately provided information on Rose’s new salary and benefits.

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