OKLAHOMA CITY — A federal judge has declined to weigh in on whether Gov. Kevin Stitt overstepped his authority by signing off on overhauled gaming compacts without consulting the legislature.
On Monday, Judge Timothy DeGuisti with the Western District of Oklahoma issued a four-page order declining both the governor’s request to put a pin in court-ordered mediation with nine tribes over the status of the state’s model gaming compact and to determine whether Stitt has the legal authority to unilaterally enter into compacts that include provisions not accounted for under in the Oklahoma Tribal Gaming Act.
Tribes involved in the federal lawsuit include the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Muscogee (Creek), Seminole, Citizen Potawatomi and Delaware nations; the Quapaw Tribe and Wichita and Affiliated Tribes.
“In the court’s view, it would be inappropriate for a federal court to interfere in the resolution of such a sensitive state law matter, which implicates important concerns of sovereignty and comity that underlie many federal abstention doctrines,” DeGuisti wrote.
State Speaker of the House Charles McCall (R-Atoka) and President Pro Tempore Greg Treat (R-Oklahoma City) have a motion pending before the Oklahoma Supreme Court, asking it to assume original jurisdiction on whether Gov. Stitt overstepped his authority by signing compacts with the Comanche Nation and Otoe-Missouria Tribe that allow for sportsbooks and removes restrictions on house-banked table and card games.
A hearing on the matter before an Oklahoma Supreme Court referee is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. on July 1. With the Oklahoma Judicial Center still closed to the public thanks to COVID-19, the court announced Monday that a live stream feed will be available.
Gov. Stitt’s office announced on June 8 that the Comanche and Otoe-Missouria compacts were deemed approved by the Department of Interior. Under the terms of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, a compact that is “deemed approved” is one that the Secretary of Interior has not formally acted on one way or the other by the 45-day deadline laid out in law. Such a compact is considered legal only to the extent it does not violate the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act and does not take effect until it is published in the Federal Register.
However, as of Tuesday morning, formal approval of either compact has not been published in the Federal Register.