The city of Tulsa has reached an agreement with the Muscogee Nation over how to prosecute crimes within the tribe’s boundaries — a move that has drawn ire from state and local leaders.
The Muscogee Nation in November 2023 sued the city and its leaders on accusations that it was prosecuting traffic tickets against Native motorists. The United States Supreme Court previously ruled that Native defendants in eastern Oklahoma must be prosecuted in federal or tribal courts, not state or municipal courts.
The lawsuit was ostensibly complicated when the Oklahoma Appellate Court ruled in December that Osage citizen Nicholas O’Brien could be prosecuted by the city of Tulsa because he was outside the boundaries of his enrolled tribe when he was arrested for DUI. Mayor Monroe Nichols announced in March that the city dismissed this case.
The city also moved that month to send more than 100 municipal court cases involving Native defendants to tribal court
And on Tuesday, Nichols said the city would sign a settlement with the Muscogee Nation to resolve the lawsuit.
“In the best interest of public safety and intergovernmental cooperation, the city will defer to the nation’s criminal jurisdiction,” Nichols said. “In addition to the cases we’ve dismissed already, we agree not to initiate new prosecutions against known Indian defendants for conduct occurring on the nation’s reservation. We will also refer tickets to the nation for conduct occurring on the nation’s reservation, and we will start a process where we will ensure the smooth implementation of the contents of this settlement.”
Nichols also said the city over the next 30 days will establish a working group with members of the Muscogee Nation Lighthorse Police, Tulsa Police Department, city and tribal attorneys, municipal and tribal court representatives, members of the mayor’s office, city councilors, tribal councilors and members of the Muscogee principal chief’s office.
Nichols faces opposition from both sides of the aisle for trying to settle with the Muscogee Nation. Gov. Kevin Stitt on Monday said in a news release that “Tulsa is essentially making itself a sanctuary city for tribal members engaged in criminal activity.”
Stitt was joined by Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler, Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation Director Greg Mashburn, State Secretary of Public Safety Tricia Everest, Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics Director Donnie Anderson, Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office Vic Regalado and Tulsa Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 93 Chairman Patrick Stephens in the news release.
“Under the system proposed by this agreement, you can have a situation where two suspects committing the same crime are treated differently because of their affiliation with a tribe,” Stephens said in the news release. “One suspect could end up in prison while the other suspect could face less severe consequences.”
Nichols rejected this notion at the news conference — he argued the city is still sending major crimes to the Northern District of Oklahoma for prosecution. Prosecutors in eastern Oklahoma have noted federal courts can sentence defendants for longer than tribal courts.
Nichols also encouraged Regalado and Kunzweiler to read the settlement when it’s released Wednesday.
“What I think is really great about them is neither one of them read the settlement,” Nichols said. “I think they both will be pleased with not only the fact that we are working to have a system that’s a little easier to navigate than right now as it relates to tribal citizens — it has very little impact on the work.”
The mayor said he was “caught off guard” by how many people commented on the settlement without reading it.
The city has also faced opposition from the activist group Justice For Greenwood, which represents descendants of people enslaved by the Muscogee Nation. Freedmen descendants are currently litigating a case for tribal citizenship.
In a motion to intervene filed in March, Justice For Greenwood attorney Damario Solomon-Simmons has argued the settlement would not represent Freedmen descendants.
Nichols said the two cases have been “kind of conflated,” and argued citizenship is an issue that falls outside the settlement.
“This doesn’t address or resolve that issue,” Nichols said. He also said the settlement “in no way interferes” with the Freedmen descendants’ court case.
City spokesperson Michelle Brooks said the settlement will be made public Wednesday morning.
