The application period for the 65th Oklahoma Highway Patrol Academy is closed due to budget constraints. There will be no Patrol Academy conducted in 2017. Individuals interested in joining the Oklahoma Highway Patrol should contact a recruiter at www.jointheohp.com for up-to-date information concerning future Patrol Academies.

Colonel Ricky Adams assumed the duties as the 26th Chief of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol on November 1, 2013. Prior to this assignment, he served 31 months as the Assistant Commissioner of the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety. Adams has been in the Law Enforcement profession for over 35 years beginning his career at the municipal level serving with the Elk City and Edmond Police Departments from 1980-1986, before joining the ranks of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol.

He is a 1986 honor graduate of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol's 42nd Academy. He began as a field Trooper assigned to Troop A (Logan County) and has risen through the ranks serving at every level within the Oklahoma Highway Patrol. His distinguished 29 year career with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol has been hallmarked by stellar leadership at every level within the organization. Adams also attended the 204th Session of the FBI National Academy in 2001. He is credited with a major role in the establishment of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol's Criminal Interdiction program, along with modernizing the statewide DPS facility and information technology infrastructure. Adams was one of the first responders to the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and has commanded operations during many of Oklahoma's natural disasters.

Notably, US Army Major General (Retired) Ricky Adams is a combat veteran who recently retired after 35 years of Army service. In previous assignments, he served as the Deputy Commanding General National Guard, US Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) Fort Eustis, Virginia, Assistant Adjutant General-Army, Oklahoma National Guard, Deputy Commanding General- Army National Guard, Field Artillery Center, Fort Sill, Director, Police Reform Directorate, Kabul, Afghanistan, Deputy Assistant Commandant, United States Army Field Artillery School, Fort Sill and Commander of the 45th Field Artillery Brigade, Enid, Oklahoma and 171st Field Artillery Battalion MLRS, Altus, Oklahoma. He has received the Army Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit, twice and the Bronze Star Medals to name a few and was inducted into the Oklahoma National Guard's Officer Candidate School (OCS) Hall of Fame in 2014.

Adams holds a Master's of Strategic Studies Degree from the US Army War College and a Bachelor from the University of Central Oklahoma. He is also a graduate of the CAPSTONE Program at the National Defense University, National Security Management Course at Syracuse University, the Army Strategic Leadership Basic, intermediate and Advanced Courses, JTF Commander Course, Joint Flag Officer War Fighting School, Harvard University's Black Sea Security Program and General & Flag Officer Homeland Security Executive Seminar, to name a few.

Chief Adams said "It is a great honor to have been asked to serve as the 26th Chief of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol. The respect and traditions of our agency has been earned and maintained by the selfless dedication to duty of our members, both past and present. I pledge to be a good steward of that tradition and ensure that our path is firmly grounded in our Core Mission and Values as we move into this 21st century".