Oklahoma's Attorney General Intervenes in Tribal Gambling Conflict
The Attorney General of Oklahoma, Gentner Drummond, has accused the state's Governor, Kevin Stitt, of wasting millions of dollars on a lengthy legal fight for tribal gaming rights.
In a strongly-worded letter, Drummond, a fellow Republican, criticized Stitt for misrepresenting the state's interests in relation to tribal gaming. The Attorney General announced his intention to represent the state in a three-year-old lawsuit pending in federal court.
Drummond stated, "Oklahoma's relationship with our tribal partners has been severely damaged due to your divisive language and unwillingness to abide by the law. The citizens you were elected to serve are the ones who suffer from your careless approach. Rather than working alongside tribal leaders to draft compacts that benefit the 4 million residents of Oklahoma, you prefer expensive legal battles which only serve to boost the earnings of the law firms you employ."
The state's Attorney General's office reveals that Oklahoma has paid three private law firms approximately $600,000 to defend its tribal compacts in the most recent case. This figure is on top of the millions spent on legal fees pertaining to tribal gaming during Stitt's tenure. The current case, Cherokee Nation, et al. v. United States Department of the Interior, et al., is currently being heard in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Drummond disclosed that the leaders of the state House and Senate have given their backing to his decision to take over representing Oklahoma in the case. "I'm grateful to be part of a broad alliance of state officials who genuinely seek to repair the damages you have done to state-tribal relations," he wrote. "The initial step in this process is simple: we must adhere to the law. As the appointed Attorney General of Oklahoma, that's exactly what I plan to do."
Court-Approved Compacts
The lawsuit was initiated by the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Citizen Potawatomi, and Choctaw nations following Stitt's approval of revised gaming compacts with four other tribes, the Comanche Nation, the Otoe-Missouria, the Kialegee Tribal Town, and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians. The Oklahoma Supreme Court had earlier deemed the compacts as invalid, but Stitt submitted them for federal approval, which they effectively received after the Interior Department took no action.
The compacts were contentious as they authorized the Comanche, Otoe-Missouria, Kialegee, and United Keetoowah Band to offer sports betting, despite this being illegal in Oklahoma.
The tense relationship between Stitt and the tribes has resulted in a deadlock over sports betting in the state.
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Source: www.casino.org
