The Secretary served as the chief advisor to the Governor on managing the operations and personnel needs of the State government.

Previously, both positions had existed separately since 1986 when they were established by the Executive Branch Reform Act of 1986.

In 2011, the Oklahoma Legislature passed the Government Administrative Process Consolidation and Reorganization Act of 2011.

The Secretary of Human Resources and Administration was responsible for providing services to help manage and support the basic functioning of all state agencies.

The annual salary of the Secretary of Human Resources and Administration was set by law at $75,000.