The agreement between Tulsa and the Muscogee Nation settles a two-year dispute the tribe began, challenging the municipality's jurisdiction over 'any indian for criminal offenses, including traffic violations.'
It means Tulsa Mayor Monroe Nichols has completely ceded his police department's ability to prosecute Indigenous Oklahomans on the Muscogee reservation, nearly the entire city. Cases will be referred to tribal courts, he said at a June press conference.
In a lawsuit filed Wednesday, Stitt writes that Nichols' move 'erodes state sovereignty, undermines public safety,' and invites other municipalities to do the same.
He wants the court to rule that Tulsa's agreement with the Muscogee Nation is illegal and block its implementation. He's also asking them to prohibit any similar agreements between cities and tribes in the future.
In court documents, the governor reminds the state supreme court justices that Nichols' predecessor, G.T. Bynum, had been fighting the tribe on this issue in federal court since 2023. Stitt also invokes the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court Decision in Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta.
"As a matter of state sovereignty, a State has jurisdiction over all of its territory, including Indian country," Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote in the court's majority opinion on that case.
In a statement shared with KOSU over email, Muscogee Nation Principal Chief David Hill said the lawsuit is in line with Stitt's previous stances on cooperation between tribal and non-tribal governments.
"It is disappointing—but not surprising—that Governor Stitt is once again trying to undermine agreements that strengthen both our Nation and the state of Oklahoma," Hill said. "The settlement between Tulsa and the Muscogee (Creek) Nation is a responsible solution that respects sovereignty, improves public safety, and benefits all Oklahomans."
Hill signed the agreement with Nichols earlier this year, and says the state should be building on it rather than trying to quash it.
"Instead of wasting taxpayer dollars on divisive lawsuits, the Governor should be working with us to build stronger partnerships for the future," he said.
Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin also weighed in.
"The historic agreement between Muscogee Nation and the City of Tulsa strengthens the blanket of public safety across Tulsa while respecting Muscogee Nation's treaty rights of self-governance over its reservation," Hoskin said.
Oklahoma is full of civic, business, and faith leaders, like Nichols, who see tribes as partners, not enemies, Hoskin's statement continues.
"Stitt's hostility to tribal sovereignty and his remarkably uninformed views on the subject are, fortunately, outliers," he said. "Gov. Stitt's backward views on tribal sovereignty are destined for the dustbin of history."
Dates for responses and any oral arguments are still pending review by the State Supreme Court.
Copyright 2025 KOSU
