McGirt ruling becomes issue in race to succeed Oklahoma Sen. Jim Inhofe

Some Republicans vying to succeed U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe are expressing deep concerns about the McGirt decision and pledging to author legislation to blunt the impact in eastern Oklahoma.

“What needs to be said is that the U.S. Senate and Congress (have) a role to play,”  Scott Pruitt, of Tulsa, said at a forum last week. Pruitt, a former Oklahoma attorney general, said Congress could assign criminal and civil jurisdiction and “provide the certainty we need as a state with respect to that McGirt decision.”

At that same forum, sponsored by the Oklahoma Petroleum Alliance, state Sen. Nathan Dahm, of Broken Arrow, called the decision “convoluted and contradictory” and said it “does suggest a legislative fix. So I have committed that I will introduce legislation in the United States Senate to correct this. Because it's not something that we can do at the state level.”

More:DOJ warns of eastern Oklahoma crime surge in wake of McGirt decision

Pruitt, Dahm and Luke Holland, who also spoke at the forum, echoed the views of Gov. Kevin Stitt, who has complained that the McGirt decision, handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2020, has cleaved the state under two sets of laws and created uncertainty about criminal and civil jurisdiction.

“As soon as you start treating people differently — once we no longer have equal justice under the law — then you have chaos,” Holland said.

“And that’s just on the criminal side. If there was a step taken to achieve this on the tax side or regulatory side, then the game’s over and it just all falls apart.”

Members of the Oklahoma congressional delegation have mostly stayed out of conflicts around the U.S. Supreme Court decision in McGirt v. Oklahoma. The five House members have pressed for additional funding for federal and tribal law enforcement agencies to handle the dramatic increases in criminal cases since the huge shift in jurisdiction. 

Rep. Tom Cole, R-Moore, introduced legislation last year to allow the Cherokee and Chickasaw nations to negotiate compacts with the state of Oklahoma on criminal jurisdiction. But that bill, amid divided sentiment among other tribes, hasn’t even gotten a hearing, and Cole acknowledged weeks ago that it wouldn’t pass this year.

Any legislation would have trouble moving through Congress without a consensus among tribes and the state. A bill to disestablish the six recently affirmed reservations, as proposed by Alex Gray, an Oklahoma City Republican running for Inhofe’s seat, would face very long odds, no matter which party was in control.

Markwayne Mullin and T.W. Shannon back out of Senate candidates' forum

U.S. Rep. Markwayne Mullin, the front-runner in the race, and Oklahoma City bank executive T.W. Shannon, the former state House speaker, backed out of the Petroleum Alliance forum last week after first committing to appear, either in person or virtually, before the group.

Oil and gas producers have particular concerns about the impact the McGirt decision may have on their industry.

Pruitt, the former administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, said, “When you look at that decision, it has wide-reaching effects, with respect to potential taxing authority, regulatory authority and I would say, too, ownership interests, when you think about mineral interests in the state of Oklahoma.”

Mullin is a Cherokee and Shannon is a Chickasaw who runs a bank owned by the tribe.

Asked about McGirt last month after filing for the U.S. Senate seat, Mullin said, “This has been a very tough situation for everybody."

Mullin noted the victory for tribal sovereignty but said, "How do we enforce crimes? How do we make sure the criminal isn’t running loose? How do we make sure that those people are being put away until they get their day in court rather than being put back on the streets?”

Mullin said people with opposing views were dug in.

“We’ve all got to get together and say, ‘OK, I get that everybody’s not going to get what they want, but what’s best for our backyard? What’s best for our neighbors?’”

Shannon’s campaign spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on his position regarding McGirt.

Thirteen Republicans filed as candidates to succeed Inhofe, who announced in February he would step aside after the current congressional session. Former U.S. Rep. Kendra Horn, of Oklahoma City, is the lone Democrat in the race, which also has a Libertarian and an independent candidate.

The primary is June 28. A runoff, which may be necessary to determine a GOP nominee, would be held on Aug. 23.

Details of changes wrought by the landmark McGirt vs. Oklahoma decision by the US Supreme Court

The Supreme Court ruled in the McGirt decision that the Muscogee (Creek) reservation in eastern Oklahoma had never been disestablished. The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals has extended the ruling to the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Quapaw and Seminole reservations, meaning most of eastern Oklahoma is “Indian country” under federal law. Most crimes involving Native Americans must now be prosecuted in federal or tribal courts.

U.S. attorneys offices in Tulsa and Muskogee and the FBI have struggled to keep up with the caseloads, and the Justice Department told Congress last month that the focus on violent crimes means many suspects in nonviolent crimes aren’t being prosecuted.

The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to decide in the next few weeks whether the state shares jurisdiction on the reservations on crimes committed by non-Indians against a Native Americans. A ruling for the state could mean more prosecutions of nonviolent crimes against Native Americans.

The Five Tribes — the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muskogee (Creek) and Seminole nations — have challenged claims by Stitt and others that the McGirt decision has compromised public safety within the reservations, pointing to the thousands of cases now being prosecuted in tribal courts.

Earlier this month, responding to Gray’s pledge to author legislation disestablishing the reservations, the Five Tribes said, “Candidates who seek to restrict our rights and disestablish our reservations, after the U.S. Supreme Court reaffirmed twice that they have always existed, do not deserve to represent our state.”

The tribes said, “Unfortunately, some politicians and candidates for office continue to create division and undermine cooperation by refusing to work with tribes as partners or by promising to attack established tribal sovereignty.”

More:Oklahoma tribes chastise Republican candidate over plan to disestablish reservation

Mullin said the subject of McGirt rarely comes up in western Oklahoma.

“When I’m out east, it always comes up,” he said.

That suggests the decision may not be a factor in Oklahoma County, the state’s largest and home to about 183,000 Republican voters. But it could very well be significant in Tulsa County, where 180,000 registered Republicans live.

The city of Tulsa, split between the Muscogee and Cherokee reservations, told the U.S. Supreme Court in March that the decision “has wrought serious, harmful consequences on the cities affected by the ruling,” including a lack of prosecutions. 

“Absent congressional action, many of these consequences will persist as long as McGirt is the law,” the city said.

Mullin said lawmakers in Washington “absolutely” have a role but that all of the parties, including the Justice Department, must agree on an approach.

“Whatever we do needs to be as a cohesive group … That’s the most important thing,” he said.