§47-158.1.

§47-158.1.
   
   The Office of Public Affairs, State Department of Health, Department
   of Public Safety, Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse
   Services, Oklahoma State Reformatory, Department of Corrections,
   Oklahoma State Penitentiary, and all other state departments and
   agencies not otherwise specifically authorized by law, are hereby
   authorized to carry insurance subject to the provisions of Section 25
   of this act on vehicles, motorized machinery, or equipment owned and
   operated by said state departments or agencies included in this
   section, such insurance to be of the following kinds and not to exceed
   the following amounts:
   
   1. Bodily injury liability, One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00)
   each person, Three Hundred Thousand Dollars ($300,000.00) each
   accident;
   
   2. Property damage liability, Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000.00) each
   accident;
   
   3. Medical and hospital insurance, Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00).
   
   Such insurance shall be on standard policy forms approved by the State
   Board for Property and Casualty Rates and with companies authorized to
   do business in Oklahoma, and shall be paid for out of administrative
   funds of said departments or state agencies purchasing the insurance.
   Such insurance shall cover not only the department or state agency
   purchasing the insurance but also the personal liability of the
   operator while said operator is performing official duties for the
   employing agency. The ownership, maintenance, operation, and use of
   motor vehicles and motorized movable equipment owned, leased, used, or
   operated by said departments or state agencies named in this section
   are hereby declared to be public governmental functions. An action for
   damages may be brought against said department or state agency, but
   the governmental immunity of said department or state agency shall be
   waived only to the extent of the amount of insurance purchased. Such
   department or state agency shall be liable for negligence only while
   such insurance is in force, but in no case in an amount exceeding the
   limits of coverage of any such insurance policy. No attempt shall be
   made in the trial of any action brought against any such department or
   state agency to suggest the existence of any insurance which covers in
   whole or in part any judgment or award which may be rendered in favor
   of the plaintiff, and if the verdict rendered by the jury exceeds the
   limits of the applicable insurance, the court shall reduce the amount
   of said judgment or award to a sum equal to the applicable limits
   stated in the policy. To the extent that the insurer has provided
   indemnity in the contract of insurance to a department or state agency
   described in this section, the said insurer may not plead as a defense
   in any action involving insurance purchased by the authority of this
   section, the governmental immunity of either the state or of any
   department or agency thereof purchasing insurance pursuant to this
   section. Venue of all actions provided for in this section shall be in
   the county of the residence of the plaintiff or where the cause of
   action arose, but summons may be served upon the director, head, or
   governing board or body of the department or state agency being sued
   and alleged to come within the purview of this section, wherever he
   may be found. If the State Insurance Fund of the state is hereafter
   authorized to write such insurance, then the state department or
   agency included in this section may obtain the insurance from the
   State Insurance Fund.