OKLAHOMA CITY — The state Supreme Court announced Monday it will not reconsider its ruling regarding the validity of two tribal gaming compacts.
In a 6-1 decision, the court declined a request from Gov. Kevin Stitt to rehear the case and clarify whether the language in compacts signed with the Otoe-Missouria Tribe and Comanche Nation can address additional forms of Class III games that could be authorized under state law.
Gov. Stitt had also asked for clarification on whether portions of the compact that allowed games not covered under state law could be severed from the rest of the compact.
Justice John Kane was the lone dissenter, while Justices James Edmondson and Tom Colbert abstained.
The court held in July that the compacts were invalid thanks to the governor’s unilateral inclusion of terms that are not explicitly provided for in the state’s Tribal Gaming Act, including sports betting and house-banked card games.
Earlier this year, state Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat (R-Oklahoma City) and state Speaker of the House Charles McCall (R-Atoka), filed the lawsuit challenging the compacts’ legality.
The compacts were deemed approved by the Department of Interior in June and published in the Federal Register. A similar lawsuit is still pending regarding two compacts signed between the governor and the Kialegee Tribal Town and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians.