Tribal citizens express concern after driver was ticketed for having tribal plate while living outside tribe’s boundaries

By Alyse Jones

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    OKLAHOMA (KOCO) — Tribal citizens in Oklahoma said they felt targeted and concerned after an apparent shift in enforcement of a decades-old law.

A woman was written a $249 citation from an Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper because she had a tribal plate but didn’t live on tribal land. While this is a law that has been on the books for three decades, tribal leaders said it hasn’t been enforced until now.

“What changed and when did it change, and why wasn’t anybody notified?” said Johnna James, a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation.

The tribal member received the ticket in Garfield County this week for violating a Supreme Court ruling from 1993. The ticket said the driver has an Otoe-Missouria Tribe tag but lives outside of the tribal area.

The driver was cited for not paying taxes to the state.

“After over 20 years of cooperation between the State and Tribes regarding vehicle tag registration, it appears the State has altered its position of understanding concerning tribal tags,” Otoe-Missouria Chairman John Shotton said in a statement on social media. “This change was made without notice or consultation with all Tribes that operate vehicle tag registration. We are concerned about this change and are reviewing all legal options to address this issue. Once again, consultation and/or diplomacy with the tribal governments prior to this policy implementation would have been helpful to avoid this difficult situation.”

Now, tribal members across Oklahoma said they feel targeted and concerned.

“Are they going to be pulling us over just because they see our tribal tag, and what is that going to lead to?” James said. “I was concerned because no one seems to know about it.”

She said the political climate and Gov. Kevin Stitt’s relationship with the tribes might be the reason for the new enforcement.

“This was intentional, and he does not want to see tribal tags in Oklahoma,” James said.

KOCO asked Stitt’s office and the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety if there have been recent conversations about starting to enforce this law but never got a response to that question.

Stitt stood by the law, however, sending a statement that said it addresses a significant public safety issue.

“This is addressing a significant public safety issue that puts law enforcement and others at risk. If tribal governments won’t share vehicle registration information with DPS, we can’t keep our officers and our streets safe. Members of tribes with valid compacts that provide needed car registration information will not be ticketed. Oklahoma Highway Patrol is simply enforcing the law and following U.S. Supreme Court precedent,” Stitt said in a statement.

Those tribes with compacts that won’t be ticketed include the Choctaw, Chickasaw and Cherokee nations.

Other tribes also posted statements about the incident. Some tribal nations are meeting with legal counsel to see what can be done.

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