Little was said but a recent Okmulgee County district court decision has wide-reaching ramifications for cities and towns within the Muscogee (Creek) Nation.
District judge Pandee Ramirez ruled municipalities do not have to turn over fine money to the Creek Nation.
A civil suit filed July 13, 2020 was on the heels of the McGirt Supreme Court decision that ruled the Creek Nation was essentially still a reservation and local laws did not apply.
That suit included Gov. Kevin Stitt as well as district attorneys for the area and the cities and towns of Tulsa, Broken Arrow, Beggs, Bixby, Boley, Bristow, Caloosa, Checotah, Coweta, Cromwell, Depew, Dewar, Drumright, Eufaula, Glenpool, Haskell, Henryetta, Ho!denville, Inola, Jenks, Kellyville, Kiefer, Mannfotd, Morris, Mounds, Muskogee, Oilton, Okemah, Okmulgee, Porter, Sand Springs, Sapulpa, Weleetka, Wetumka and Wewoka.
Filed by four members of the Cherokee Nation, the original lawsuit claimed they had been prosecuted unlawfully and the collection of fines and fees were taken from Native Americans without legal authority.
It also asked that the defendants return “all or at least a portion of the money”.
In granting the motion to dismiss Judge Ramirez citied Section 14 of the Curtis Act passed by Congress in 1898.
Attorneys for the cities and towns argued the McGirt case dealt with only major crimes and Section 14 of the Curtis act allowed municipalities to enforce their own ordinances.
That section allows all cities and towns to incorporate as well as “charge and collect the same fees for similar services are allowed to constables.”
That gave community law enforcement agencies the right to issue tickets and collect those monies for them.
“We have been waiting for this to be denied,” said Henryetta police chief Steve Norman. We were not writing tickets to tribal members but now are going to be able to.”