Three Oklahoma Tribes Suing Governor Kevin Stitt
I told you awhile ago things were about to get interesting.
I've been keeping up with this story for a few weeks now and we were getting close to the deadline. Tomorrow (January 1, 2020), a gambling compact is set to expire in Oklahoma. This compact allows tribal owned casinos to operate Class III gaming. That includes slot machines, roulette, and craps. Pretty much the majority of the casino floor.
This gambling compact has two sides. One side, Governor Kevin Stitt. He claims when this expires tomorrow, all of those gambling activities will be illegal in the state. A tribal spokesperson has said that compact automatically renews at the beginning of the year and it will be business as usual tomorrow. Someone has to be wrong in this, right?
Recently the Oklahoma Secretary of Native American Affairs has stepped down due to Kevin Stitt's actions. You can read her letter of resignation essentially calling out the governor. Now we have a lawsuit against the governor from three tribes in the state.
The Cherokee, Chickasaw and Choctaw nations filed a suit in federal court in Oklahoma City.The suit names Gov. Kevin Stitt as a defendant and seeks a judicial declaration that the gaming compacts renew automatically effective Wednesday. I'm writing this article around three in the afternoon the day before this expires.
I legit have no idea what is going to happen tomorrow. Will the casinos be open? Will authorities be arresting casino owners if they operate those Class III gaming after the compact ends? What happens when we hit 2020? Guess we wait and see. Unless an extension is made in the next few hours.