City, Muscogee Nation Reach Settlement Agreement

City, Muscogee Nation Reach Settlement Agreement

6/25/2025

Tulsa Mayor Nichols and Principal Chief David Hill announced the City of Tulsa and the Muscogee Nation have entered into a settlement agreement in lieu of ongoing litigation and in the spirit of forward collaboration.

This agreement keeps all enforcement actions the same but outlines that City of Tulsa municipal cases will be sent to the Muscogee Nation tribal court if the defendant maintains tribal status (any tribe) and whose case was initiated in the city limits of Tulsa that lie within the boundaries of the Muscogee Nation. The agreement also creates a working group that, over the next eight months, will solidify resolutions to procedural matters relating to public safety.

State and federal cases are not included as part of the agreement.

Mayor Nichols thanked the Muscogee Nation for their work with the City of Tulsa:

"First, I want to thank Principal Chief David Hill and the Muscogee Nation for entrusting us with the work ahead and for the good faith efforts in creating a path forward that has not been accomplished in more than five years," Mayor Nichols said. "The collaboration and communication between our governments has been tremendous, and I look forward to our next step in this process. As mayor, I pledged to make Tulsa the safest big city in the country and to co-govern with our tribal partners. Today, with this agreement, we are establishing systems to ensure that we move forward on both of those pledges with a solid framework. Our city can only benefit if we collaborate and approach our work together rather than individually. We are stronger together, and we can show the nation how municipalities and tribal governments can work together to create better outcomes for all our residents."

Muscogee Nation Principal Chief David Hill said he looks forward to the continued collaboration between the City of Tulsa and Muscogee Nation:

"As we get closer to next month's five-year anniversary of the Supreme Court's monumental McGirt decision, I am reminded and find myself very proud of the significant strides the Nation has made to increase its law enforcement and judicial capabilities to meet the demands necessary for responsible governance of our Reservation," Hill said. "These efforts by the Nation to provide robust public safety priorities in our communities are enhanced when we are able to work closely in cooperation with state and local agency partners. Today, a clear example of this partnership has been realized by the settlement reached between the Nation and the City of Tulsa regarding the exercise of criminal jurisdiction within city limits on the Reservation. I applaud and appreciate the vision of Mayor Nichols in advocating a policy for reaching solutions with Tribes--rather than litigating--on these issues of mutual importance for citizens and visitors in Tulsa, both Indian and non-Indian alike. While the Nation and Tulsa have reached a settlement today, I know that the real work for implementing the terms of this collaboration is just beginning. However, I look forward to working with Mayor Nichols and his team as we show the rest of the state what responsible and respectful co-governance on the Reservation can look like."

Agreement Details

• Ensures tribal sovereignty.
• Continues to ensure that violent crimes are passed to the U.S Attorney's Office, which is the case currently.
• Allows Tulsa Police to enforce local laws and continue to pull people over for traffic offenses (regardless of tribal status).
  • The initial police interaction with the enforcing agency will continue to occur.
  • Citizens of any tribal nation will still be able to be pulled over by Tulsa Police, with their cases sent over to the Muscogee Nation's court system following the interaction and citation if the incident occurs in Tulsa city limits within the boundaries of the Muscogee Nation.

Working Group
This agreement will help streamline processes that have been ongoing since the McGirt decision. As part of the agreement, a working group has been created to finalize details over the course of the next eight months surrounding public safety procedures for municipal cases:

• A working group is being established in the next 30 days, which will consist of members from the City of Tulsa and the Muscogee Nation.
• This working group will produce a public report that includes but is not limited to booking procedures; detention facilities; videoconferencing options; special services like mental health and diversion programs; lab testing; property storage; extradition; reliable education; and communication and coordination.

Cherokee National Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin, Jr. also applauded the agreement:

"I applaud the City of Tulsa and Muscogee Nation for reaching a resolution that protects tribal sovereignty and enhances public safety for all," Hoskin said. "Mayor Monroe Nichols and Chief David Hill have demonstrated thoughtful leadership in reaching this agreement. Far on the other end of the spectrum is Governor Kevin Stitt, whose ignorance of the fundamentals of tribal sovereignty and cooperative governance within tribal reservations is astounding. Governor Stitt remains hopelessly on the wrong side of history while the rest of us chart a course for co-governing alongside tribes in the 21st century."

It's important to note that this agreement DOES NOT:

• Create a different set of rules for tribal citizens.
• "Make it impossible for elected officials and Oklahoma law enforcement to protect their communities."
• "Kneecap the Tulsa Police Department from performing its public safety function."
• Directly relate to the recent incidents of gun violence in Tulsa and in Downtown.
• Make Oklahoma "less safe."
• The agreement also allows for constant evaluation of progress between both parties.

Mayor Nichols plans to work with other tribal partners to create a similar framework.

The agreement and a set of Frequently Asked Questions can be found online: https://www.cityoftulsa.org/mayor/tribal-nations