Chaplains in public service have a long and storied history in the United States. The first Congress appointed congressional chaplains to lead prayers for its members. Prior to the Declaration of Independence, the Army Chaplain Corps was established and continues to exist to this day. So I was confused when KFOR ran this story highlighting Representative Mickey Dollens’s concerns about a volunteer chaplain in an Oklahoma City public school.

Dollens claims, “[i]t’s very clearly stated in our state’s constitution under Article Two, Section Five, the state cannot sponsor or endorse any particular religion.” That section actually deals with state funds going to benefit a particular religion or minister. This section does not prohibit the hiring of chaplains for the same reason the First Amendment doesn’t prohibit hiring chaplains. Both provisions are designed to prohibit the establishment of a state church. Appointing chaplains does not equate to establishing a church—as demonstrated by the fact that the first Congress appointed chaplains.

The State of Oklahoma already employs chaplains in a number of contexts. The Legislature passed a law creating chaplains for the Department of Public Safety. Yet another law allows every department within the Department of Mental Health to have a chaplain. Both county governments and the Legislature can hire chaplains. Clearly, the use of chaplains in public service is not illegal.

Dollens also argues that students should not be coerced into any particular religion. This is true, but he provides no evidence of coercion. Neither does KFOR. As far as we can tell, the school offers chaplain services as an option for students who choose to use the service, but no evidence of coercion is provided. 

Finally, Dollens suggests that a school having a chaplain is illegal because the Legislature has not specifically permitted it. As shown above, there are instances where the Legislature has passed laws expressly permitting state agencies to hire chaplains. But my research turned up no law expressly providing for the Oklahoma Department of Corrections to have chaplains. Yet the use of chaplains in prison is both accepted and, I suspect, widely approved by Oklahomans. There are other examples of agencies employing chaplains without express legislative consent. If schools want to employ chaplains, they don’t need legislative permission to do so. This seems especially true for volunteer chaplains, which is the situation described in the article.

Chaplains are a positive good for government agencies. They provide counseling and guidance for employees and for those served by the agencies. This latest crusade on the part of Mickey Dollens against any semblance of religion in public life is devoid of historical and legal realities. Schools that want to use chaplains—and many more should—need not wait for the Legislature to give them permission. 

[If the government has violated your rights, the OCPA Center for Law & Liberty may be able to help. We offer pro bono representation in select cases. Contact us at litigation@ocpathink.org.]