Oklahoman
U.S. Rep. Tom Cole introduced a bill on Tuesday to allow the Cherokee and Chickasaw nations to make agreements with the state of Oklahoma on prosecuting some crimes involving Native Americans within the tribes’ reservations.
Cole, R-Moore, said the legislation would provide “an immediate solution to the urgent issues facing law enforcement, giving them clarity to enforce the law, keep dangerous criminals behind bars and ensure justice is served.”
McGirt decision prompts changes
Under federal law, crimes involving Native Americans in Indian Country must be prosecuted by the federal government or in tribal courts. In the wake of the decision in the McGirt v. Oklahoma case, tribes and U.S. attorneys have filed hundreds of criminal cases involving Native Americans that, since statehood, had been prosecuted by state district attorneys.
Oklahoma Congressman To Introduce Legislation On Tribal Jurisdiction Compacts
An Oklahoma congressman will introduce a bill Tuesday that would allow two Oklahoma tribes to reach an agreement for the state to prosecute certain crimes, even if they happen on tribal land.
The purpose of the bill is to fill some gaps from the Supreme Court s ruling on tribal jurisdiction in hopes of protecting more people in Oklahoma. It gives more tools to the tribe while keeping the tribe in control of the future, said Cherokee Nation Attorney General Sara Hill.
Congressman Tom Cole (OK-4) will introduce a bill that would give the Cherokee and Chickasaw nations power to give jurisdiction to Oklahoma in some criminal cases.
Oklahoman
The leaders of the Cherokee and Chickasaw Nations have signed off on federal legislation that would allow them to negotiate compacts with the state on criminal jurisdiction within their reservations.
The legislation, which may be introduced in Congress as soon as Tuesday, would provide a means for the tribes and state prosecutors to share jurisdiction over some crimes that became the responsibility of the tribes and federal government after a U.S. Supreme Court decision last year.
U.S. attorneys and the Five Tribes the Cherokees, Chickasaws, Choctaws, Muscogees and Seminoles have had to file hundreds of cases in recent months that were previously prosecuted by state district attorneys. Many of the cases are new, while others involved state inmates convicted of murder and other violent crimes.