Gov. Stitt Responds To Concerns Over Oklahoma Tribal Tags

A traffic ticket for a tribal license is causing major concern in the Oklahoma Native American community.

Friday, November 10th 2023, 9:22 am

By: News On 6, News 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -

There is growing concern within Oklahoma's Native American community that citizens will face fines for their tribal tags after a recent uptick of enforcement of rules regarding taxes and license plates.

News 9 reached out to Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt this morning and received a statement from his team:

"This is addressing a significant public safety issue that puts law enforcement and others at risk. If tribal governments won’t share vehicle registration information with DPS, we can’t keep our officers and our streets safe. Members of tribes with valid compacts that provide needed car registration information will not be ticketed. Oklahoma Highway Patrol is simply enforcing the law and following U.S. Supreme Court precedent.”

This comes after a member of the Otoe-Missouria Tribe recently shared a picture of her costly ticket on Facebook.

The Otoe-Missouria Tribe issued a statement on Thursday after a citizen was informed that they could not use their tribal car tag.

The citizen posted on Facebook that they were given a $249 ticket by the Oklahoma Highway Patrol for operating a vehicle "on which all taxes due to the state have not been paid." The citizen said the trooper told them that they were using tribal tags outside of their jurisdictional area, meaning that the citizen's registered address was not located within the tribal jurisdiction of the Otoe-Missouria, making them unqualified to drive their car using the tribe's tag.

In response, the Otoe-Missouria Tribe said that this new rule is real and was made by the state without consultation of the tribe.

On Wednesday, the Tribe was made aware of an incident that occurred to one of our enrolled tribal members residing in Garfield County. This person was issued a $249 traffic citation for failure to pay state taxes on their motor vehicle. The justification for the citation was that the tribal member did not have a right to a tribal tag because, by the estimation of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol officer, the tribal member lives outside of the Otoe-Missouria tribal jurisdiction.

“After over 20 years of cooperation between the State and Tribes regarding vehicle tag registration, it appears the State has altered its position of understanding concerning tribal tags,” Otoe-Missouria Chairman John Shotton says. “This change was made without notice or consultation with all Tribes that operate vehicle tag registration. We are concerned about this change and are reviewing all legal options to address this issue. Once again, consultation and/or diplomacy with the tribal governments prior to this policy implementation would have been helpful to avoid this difficult situation”

Muscogee (Creek) Nation Principal Chief David W. Hill also issued a statement about the situation:

Today, the Executive and Legislative Branches discussed allegations that have come to our attention about tribal vehicle tags with registered addresses outside the Reservation possibly being ticketed as illegal. We met and discussed the facts in front of us and the verifiable information that we have gathered on this matter. As we continue to seek out more clarification and resolution on this issue, we are in constant communication with our legal team for counsel and determining any action that may be necessary. We will keep citizens updated with further communication on this matter as it continues to develop.

And The Oklahoma Highway Patrol issued this statement:

"There are two circumstances in which an Indian living in Oklahoma may use a tribal tag in lieu of a state-issued tag:

• Pursuant to the United States Supreme Court's holding in Okla. Tax Comm'n v. Sac & Fox Nation, 508 U.S. 14 (1993), Indians may use a tribal tag if they (1) have registered their vehicles through the tribe and (2) reside and principally garage their vehicle in the tribe's Indian country.

• For tribes with a valid compact with the state, members of those tribes may lawfully use a tribal tag no matter where the person lives.

Other than these two circumstances, all Oklahomans must register their vehicles with an Oklahoma tag and registration. Oklahomans who fail to do so are subject to enforcement under the Oklahoma Vehicle License and Registration Act, which may include a misdemeanor citation and/or impoundment of the vehicle."

Service Oklahoma, which handles car registrations, says on its website unauthorized tribal plates may lead to penalties.

According to a 1993 US Supreme Court ruling, authorized means the vehicle must be registered through the tribe, and the owner must reside and principally garage the vehicle in the tribe's territory.

This rule doesn't apply to the three tribes that have vehicle compacts with the state: Choctaw, Cherokee and Chickasaw.

Other tribes are disputing how the law is being enforced.

Those tribes, including the Seminole and Muscogee, say they are discussing the situation with their lawyers.

Explainer: Oklahoma Tribal Compacts

A lot of revenue between tribes and the state of Oklahoma is due to compacts. Oklahoma lawmakers and tribes have maintained compacts for decades now.

However, disputes about the compacts have created challenges for lawmakers and contention between some tribes and Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt.

Lawmakers recently decided to override Gov. Stitt's veto of two bills that would extend compacts about how the state and tribes share revenue from taxes on tobacco sales and motor vehicle tags.

Stitt expressed concern that unless the compacts are renegotiated, the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark McGirt decision on tribal sovereignty, which says a large portion of eastern Oklahoma remains a Native American reservation, could allow tribes to undercut non-tribal retailers across that area.

For a brief overview of the conflict, CLICK HERE.

What is a tribal compact?

A compact is a type of contract between a state and tribes. Compacts between states and tribes put in place rules for the management of gaming activities, and how the state and tribes divide income from taxes on tobacco sales and motor vehicles. Although a compact is negotiated between a tribe and a state, the U.S. Secretary of Interior must approve it.

CLICK HERE for more information from Oklahoma.gov.

What is a gaming compact?

Oklahoma voters in 2004 approved SQ 712, which set up a model compact between the state and Native American tribes to regulate tribal gaming operations. The tribes were allowed to manage specific games in return for making payments to the state.

CLICK HERE for more information about Oklahoma's gaming compact.

What does Class III gaming mean?

The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) Class III includes all forms of gaming; lucrative, casino-style slot machines, and ball and dice games. Class III gaming needs a tribal ordinance to pass, but it also requires tribes to conduct Class III activities “in conformance with a Tribal-State compact entered into by the Indian tribe and the State.”

What is the State-Tribal Gaming Act?

Through the State-Tribal Gaming Act, the state laid out exact terms of its offer for a gaming compact to allow Class III gaming to each federally recognized tribe within Oklahoma. Oklahoma tribes interested in Class III gaming were able to simply accept those terms without negotiations that are usually necessary in other states.

CLICK HERE for more information from the Oklahoma Bar Association.