TULSA — The City of Tulsa continues to weigh its options in the wake of Wednesday’s decision by the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals finding Tulsa police can not legally cite Native Americans for traffic violations on Indian lands. [See related story here]

Much of the city falls under tribal jurisdiction, according to the 2020 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in McGirt v Oklahoma, which found that Congress never disestablished Indian reservations which existed in eastern Oklahoma before statehood.

[Hear the KRMG In-Depth report on the Hooper v City of Tulsa decision HERE]

Tulsa had long operated under the assumption that those reservations no longer existed, as had the State of Oklahoma, and the McGirt decision came as a shock to law enforcement.

This latest decision in the case of Hooper v City of Tulsa came down to the court’s rejection of the city’s defense, which it based on a provision of the 1898 Curtis Act.

In summary, the court found that the Curtis Act simply no longer applied once the former Indian Territory became part of the new State of Oklahoma in 1907.

“The City of Tulsa’s position was that 19th Century - late 19th Century - law called the Curtis Act actually carved out an exception if you will to McGirt, such that the City of Tulsa could apply its laws and its jurisdiction over everyone in the City of Tulsa, irrespective of whether they were a citizen of an Indian nation,” Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin, Jr. told KRMG Wednesday. “We know that that’s at odds with McGirt, but that was the argument.”

Hoskin pointed out that tribal nations have agreements with a number of municipalities regarding the enforcement of traffic laws, and distribution of the funds brought in by fines.

“The same can be true with the City of Tulsa,” Hoskin added. “We can work out an agreement where we not only share the process and make it simple, we can actually share revenue and make sure that at the end of the day, we keep our eye on this, which is that no matter who’s paying for it, we’ve got to have a well-funded system of public safety and law enforcement. We’ve all got an interest in that, it’s just a matter of how we get there. And we know after today’s decision, we can’t rely - as the City of Tulsa wanted to rely on - a late 19th Century law that’s outlived its usefulness.”

Tulsa attorney and former Assistant State Attorney General Tim Gilpin said Thursday the city will have 30 days to file motions to stay and/or appeal the ruling.

He added that in his opinion, it might save the city a lot of time and money to simply work out an agreement with the tribes rather than continue the court battle.

“From a purely legal perspective, you’ve got a pretty strong 10th Circuit Court of Appeals decision, you’ve got the United States Supreme Court not backing off McGirt,” Gilpin said. “So combine the two, that means in Oklahoma, from a legal perspective, we need to probably sit down with the tribes and work out law enforcement on the municipal and the state level, and that’s going to be the least expensive from a practical perspective thing to do.”

KRMG reached out to the city to inquire about a potential appeal.

A spokeswoman told us city legal is reviewing the decision and evaluating possible responses, and said the city will have no further comment for the time being.