Today the Joint Committee on State-Tribal Relations will meet to consider two gaming compacts between Governor Kevin Stitt, the Kialegee Tribal Town and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians.
In 2021, legislative leaders filed suit against Stitt for exceeding authority in compact negotiations. This was something agreed upon by the Oklahoma Supreme Court, which ruled that new compacts must be negotiated within the boundaries of the Model Tribal Gaming Compacts or must have approval from the Joint Committee on State-Tribal Relations, and that if an executive branch has not met these requirements, the compact cannot be valid. In the case of Governor Kevin Stitt, neither of these requirements were fulfilled.
Despite this ruling, the compacts were submitted by Stitt to the US Department of the Interior. As no action was taken, the compacts were considered approved. This has added further complication to this developing case.
Attorney General Gentner Drummond (pictured) joined the suit of Governor Stitt in June this year. On the matter, he recently said, “Proper respect for the law compels the conclusion that the Joint Committee lacks authority to make valid that which the Oklahoma Supreme Court earlier declared to be invalid.”
Drummond has said the compact's wording shifts power within the Oklahoma Government, and that “The terms of these proposed compacts depart substantially from the codified Model Tribal Gaming Compact and, further, purport to make other significant departures from existing law.”
Governor Stitt has been no stranger to complications with Tribes and gaming compacts since his election in the state of Oklahoma.
