MCN sues Tulsa County District Attorney and Sheriff

By Jerrad Moore, Assignment Editor

TULSA, Okla. – The Muscogee Creek Nation’s lawsuit against the city of Tulsa currently has a stay in effect until March 18, so that both parties can engage in settlement discussions. Since the stay was issued, newly elected Tulsa Mayor Monroe Nichols has instructed Tulsa City attorneys to send traffic citations involving tribal citizens to tribal courts for review. Mayor Nichols ran a successful campaign that included working with tribal governments on the jurisdictional issue as a key part of his platform. 

According to media reports, Tulsa County District Attorney Stephen Kunzweiler has stated publicly that the Tulsa Police Department has not been forwarding cases to his office when they involve citizens of tribal nations. Kunzweiler sent a letter to Mayor Nichols asking that he “facilitate the delivery of criminal case referrals to the Tulsa County District Attorney’s Office for review and potential prosecution by the State of Oklahoma.” 

Kunzweiler’s justification for the ongoing prosecution of non-Mvskoke tribal citizens on the Mvskoke Reservation is the recent O’Brian decision from the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals.  This decision held that the City of Tulsa had jurisdiction over Native Americans that have committed crimes in Tulsa County, as long as they are not Mvskoke citizens. 

In response to Kunzweilers continued attempts to prosecute tribal citizens, the MCN filed another lawsuit, this time against Tulsa County, Kunzweiler and Tulsa County Sheriff Vic Regolato.  The suit seeks a declaratory judgement that the county lacks criminal jurisdiction over tribal citizens and continued assertion of that jurisdiction violates federal law. The suit also seeks an injunction barring the DA from exercising criminal jurisdiction over tribal citizens.