An income tax ruling in 2022 by the state Tax Commission that subsequently was affirmed this year by the Oklahoma Supreme Court has sparked a dispute between the state Department of Wildlife Conservation and at least four Native American tribes.
The state Supreme Court ruled on July 1 that although Alicia Stroble is an enrolled member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, and was employed by the tribe during tax years 2017, 2018 and 2019, her wages did not qualify for exemption from state income taxes for those three years because her home in Okmulgee’s Quail Meadows Addition was not in “Indian Country.”
Her warranty deed “demonstrates the land is not a formal reservation owned by the federal government,” the court ruled. Stroble “acquired fee title to the property in 2008 from a non-tribal grantor, the LaSalle Bank National Association, as Trustee for the C-BASS Trust.”
Furthermore, the deed “does not indicate the land is held by the Muscogee (Creek) Nation or the federal government in trust” for the tribe and “does not qualify as an informal reservation” pursuant to the Oklahoma Administrative Code.
Stroble further asserted that since her home was within the boundaries of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation reservation during those three tax years, her wages should have been exempt from state taxation because of the McGirt v. Oklahoma decision by the Supreme Court of the United States in 2020.
In McGirt, SCOTUS ruled that serious crimes committed in Indian Country by or against Native Americans must be prosecuted in federal or tribal courts, not state courts.
Subsequently SCOTUS issued another decision that “clarifies McGirt is limited to the Major Crimes Act,” the Oklahoma Supreme Court wrote. “[T]he general rule remains that the State is entitled to exercise authority over the whole of its territory.”
By its “very language,” the Major Crimes Act “does not apply to taxation,” the Oklahoma Supreme Court wrote. There is no preemption “for taxation established under McGirt…” Moreover, McGirt “is a new rule of criminal procedure (decided in July of 2020) and as such is not retroactive” to tax years 2017, 2018 and 2019.
Last Wednesday the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation issued a letter reminding “all hunters and anglers” that state fish and wildlife laws “apply to everyone in Oklahoma regardless of race, heritage, or background.”
ODWC game wardens will continue to enforce the law and will issue citations to anyone in violation” of the state’s fish and game laws, “regardless of tribal citizenship.” The agency said its responsibility is “to ensure consistent wildlife management and fair application of the law to protect Oklahoma’s natural resources for all citizens.”
The Stroble case “has provided clear legal confirmation that McGirt is limited to prosecuting crimes under the Major Crimes Act only,” the ODWC asserted.
“Every license dollar funds the conservation programs that benefit hunters, anglers, and wildlife alike, so it is critical that every user contributes to this funding model that has made Oklahoma a Top 10 hunting and fishing destination.”
Tribes displeased Several Native American tribes in Oklahoma disagree with the court ruling and the ODWC’s policy.
Bill Anoatubby, governor of the Chickasaw Nation, told KXII-TV his nation’s licensing rules – and the ‘Five Tribes Wildlife Management Agreement’ allowing tribal members to hunt and fish across each tribe’s lands – are within the rights of each nation. “We have the right to exercise control and authority over this territory when it comes to hunting and fishing,” he said.
“It’s our inherent right, it’s our sovereign right,” Sena Yesslith, principal chief of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, told KXII. “To be attacking that is detrimental to our people.”
Tribal members “have the inherent right to hunt and fish on our reservation,” Choctaw Nation Chief Gary Batton wrote in a statement. “Since 2022, Choctaw tribal members have been able to use their membership card as their hunting and fishing license on the reservation.”
In 2024, he continued, the Five Tribes Wildlife Management Reciprocity Agreement “enabled Choctaw tribal members to also hunt and fish on the Cherokee, Creek, Chickasaw and Seminole reservations.”
The right to hunt and fish “is inherent, rooted in the sovereignty and traditions of tribal nations long before the founding of the United States,” Batton wrote. “These rights were not granted by the federal government but were retained by tribes and later acknowledged and affirmed through treaties, federal law, and court decisions.”
Batton advised any Choctaw member who receives a citation “or has personal items confiscated by an Oklahoma game warden while fishing or hunting within the boundaries of one of the Five Tribes’ reservations “should contact the Choctaw Nation Tribal Public Defender’s Office at 580-634-0678.”
Muscogee Nation Principal Chief David W. Hill said the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s ruling in Stroble v. Oklahoma Tax Commission departed from “well-settled law originally recognized by the United States Supreme Court over 50 years ago” and was “inconsistent with the State’s own administrative tax rules.”
The court’s ruling “could have broad implications for Indian Country,” Hill said, “so we are carefully reviewing the decision with our legal team and preparing for the next steps.”
Ruling appealed to U.S. Supreme Court Alicia Stroble appealed the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruling to the Supreme Court of the United States on Oct. 7. The case is not scheduled for oral arguments this month nor next month, SCOTUS records reflect.
The Tax Commission is represented by the state Attorney General’s office.
Stroble is represented by Michael D. Parks of McAlester; the Seminole Nation is represented by Valerie Devol of Edmond; the Chickasaw Nation is represented by Stephen Greetham of Oklahoma City; and the Muscogee Nation is represented by Stephanie Rush of Sapulpa and Geraldine Wisner of Okmulgee.