The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia recently determined that the Oklahoma Supreme Court can rule if Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond may defend the state in a civil lawsuit over its tribal gaming compacts, particularly since Gov. Kevin Stitt is named in the suit.
The contentious case dates back to 2020, when the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw and Citizen Potawatomi nations sued Stitt after he negotiated new gaming compacts with the Comanche Nation, the Otoe-Missouria Tribe, the Kialegee Tribal Town and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians.
The plaintiffs contend Stitt did not have the authority to implement the new compacts, which included allowing the Comanche and Otoe-Missouria tribes to offer sports betting. A judge later dismissed the Kialegee and Keetoowah case since those tribes did not operate casinos.
The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled the four new compacts were invalid under state law. However, the U.S. Department of the Interior allowed them to stand through the “inaction” provision.
Meanwhile, Stitt hired private attorneys to represent him in the federal civil lawsuit. But last July, Drummond asked the District of Columbia to recognize him, not Stitt and his lawyers, to legally represent the state in Cherokee Nation, et al. v. the Department of the Interior, et al.
Drummond said his intervention in the lawsuit would lead to an “expeditious end” and stop the “continued waste of state resources on this matter.”
Reacting to the latest news of the state supreme court’s participation in the lawsuit, Drummond said, “I am grateful the court agrees that this crucial question should be answered by the Oklahoma Supreme Court. How the governor chooses to interact with the tribes is his prerogative, but he is not free to violate Oklahoma law. I believe it is important to intercede in this litigation to uphold the law, preserve Oklahoma Supreme Court precedent and defend our constitution.”
Stitt claimed the state constitution grants the governor “supreme executive power,” therefore he has the right to hire his own outside counsel to represent the state. Previously, a Stitt spokesman said Drummond’s actions were “unprecedented” and that he was abandoning four smaller tribes that were sued by the state’s wealthiest tribal nations.
