Victim Services Adds More Staff To Help Families Impacted By Supreme Court's McGirt Ruling

Additional resources are being brought in to help victims after the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that deals with tribal jurisdiction.

Victim Specialists say they're hearing from a lot of families struggling now that their cases have to be prosecuted at the federal level. They say before the Supreme Court ruling they would typically help around 100 victims each year, now every specialist is seeing about 100 victims each and now they are bringing in additional help for victims and their families. Services they provide can vary from counseling to explaining the federal system and in some cases, they can help pay for medical bills if needed.

Gayla Stewart is the Victim Witness Specialist for Tulsa and she says since the Supreme Court ruling they're seeing a lot of frustration from victims about the timeline of things, but say once federal charges are filed things can move quickly.

"I think it's just frustrating because it's taken so long to get to where they are and now they've got to start all over. But we have a speedy trial act so within 70 days we're supposed to dispose of that," said Stewart.