OKLAHOMA CITY ( KFOR ) – Governor Kevin Stitt announced the finalization of compacts with two tribes in Oklahoma on Monday.
“We now have fully executed tobacco compacts with both the Chickasaw and the Apache tribes that maintain jurisdictional continuity in Oklahoma,” said Governor Stitt. “We also finalized a car tag compact with the Chickasaw tribe that ensures Oklahoma law enforcement can confidently identify vehicles on the road and guarantees that our turnpikes can read tribal tags. For the safety of all law enforcement, and for tag compacts to be workable, the state must have uninhibited, up-to-date access to driver registration information, and this agreement ensures that.”
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“The Chickasaw Nation is pleased to announce we have worked with Governor Stitt’s office to continue these important compacts for another 10 years. We built on areas of agreement without waiving or limiting the rights of either party or requiring either party to yield on matters where there may still be legal dispute,” stated Chickasaw Nation Governor Bill Anoatubby. “…we appreciate the Oklahoma Legislature providing us additional time to work on these agreements. It has long been our policy to exercise sovereignty and pursue sound intergovernmental agreements. This work, done properly, strengthens the Chickasaw Nation and Oklahoma. We believe our new agreements are good examples of what can be done when we work together, and we are glad they will benefit all of us who call Oklahoma home.”