The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation and Gov. Kevin Stitt are asking the Oklahoma Supreme Court to weigh in on Attorney General Gentner Drummond’s authority in a months-long disagreement over tribal hunting and fishing rights.
Along with ODWC Director Wade Free, Stitt and his appointed special prosecutor Russell Cochran filed a petition Tuesday arguing that an opinion Drummond issued in December was not legally binding; rather, it was advisory.
In the opinion, Drummond said that the state’s wildlife code does not usurp tribes’ sovereignty over wildlife management on their reservations. He wrote that he normally wouldn’t issue an opinion on something with pending litigation, but he felt this issue warranted immediate clarification.
Drummond’s opinion sided with the Five Tribes, which share a wildlife management agreement in which members of each tribe can hunt and fish within all five reservations.
The newly filed petition alleges the AG’s opinion was too vague for game wardens to interpret and addresses a constitutional issue — making it merely advisory.
In response, Drummond said his office does not have the responsibility to “serve as a rubber stamp for the Governor’s political agenda;” rather, it has the constitutional authority to offer legal guidance based on federal law.
“This petition is not about wildlife management,” Drummond said. “It’s about Gov. Stitt’s continued refusal to accept legal boundaries on his authority. For years, this Governor has demonstrated a pattern of ignoring legal advice he doesn’t like and attempting to bully state officials into submission. This must end now.”
This disagreement came into the spotlight in October, when the ODWC issued a statement that tribal members hunting and fishing on reservation fee land still need to purchase licenses from the state.
The Cherokee, Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations sued Stitt, Free and Cochran for the ticketing of their citizens on tribal lands without state licenses last fall. The Muscogee Nation filed a separate suit against Free and Cochran earlier this month.
The tribal hunting rights cases against the state are still ongoing in the Northern District Court of Oklahoma. The Seminole Nation General Council is expected to vote soon on whether to enter an amicus brief in one or both of the pending federal lawsuits.
This article was originally published by KOSU. You can see the original story here.