City of Tulsa agrees to settle lawsuit filed by the Muscogee Creek Nation, affirming tribal jurisdiction in municipal criminal cases

The City of Tulsa and the Muscogee Creek Nation have agreed to settle a lawsuit over criminal jurisdiction for municipal cases, with the City agreeing to pass cases involving Muscogee citizens on to tribal prosecutors. Mayor Monroe Nichols announced the proposed settlement.

The Muscogee Creek Nation filed suit in 2023, arguing the City no longer had the authority to prosecute Creek citizens for municipal crimes committed on reservation land. Almost all of Tulsa, South of Admiral Boulevard, is on land affirmed as a reservation by the Supreme Court.

Historic precedent for prosecuting major crimes was upended by the McGirt decision, leading to the lawsuit over municipal charges, which are almost all traffic citations. The Department of Justice sided with the Creek Nation in the case.

Tulsa Mayor Monroe Nichols said he and MCN Principal Chief David Hill would sign the agreement and then release the document to the public. Nichols said a working group would set out procedures for Tulsa Police to verify tribal affiliation of citizens.

“That’s going to take some time, but some things we’ve already decided to do, like referring cases out to tribal court, and I think that’s been successful so far,” said Nichols, who said 900 cases involving 180 tribal defendants have been passed to the Nation.

With the settlement agreement, Nichols said the City and Muscogee Creeks can negotiate directly without court involvement.

Nichols was critical of a statement from Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt opposing the settlement, before any details were released. Stitt said it would set up a two-tier system of justice, but Nichols said it would instead ensure cases were referred to the proper court for disposition.

“This really is the work the Governor probably should have done, post-McGirt, in the first place,” said Nichols, “It put all of us, across the state, particularly Tulsa, given our unique situation, because we’re all reservation, in a really weird spot.”