Tulsa’s Acting US Attorney, Cherokee Nation Work To Address New Cases After Tribal Jurisdiction Ruling

An April 1 deadline set by a Rogers County judge said any cases affected by the Supreme Court ruling on tribal jurisdiction will be dismissed.  

The district attorney worries about what will happen to the cases that he said can’t be filed in federal or tribal court.  

“There will absolutely be people that fall through the cracks. The tribes and U.S. Attorney’s office are doing everything that they can, but it just simply won’t be enough,” Rogers County District Attorney Matt Ballard said.  

Tulsa’s Acting U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson said public safety is his number one priority. He said taking on cases for violent crimes, and for those who are already in custody, are his office's focus right now.  

"What may happen is some of the cases may not go as fast as some people would like, just due to resources. But what we are going to do is we are going to make sure the most violent predators are taken care of, that those individuals that need to go to jail get charged and go back to jail,” Johnson said.  

Johnson said most misdemeanor cases dismissed because of the Travis Hogner case are going to the Cherokee Nation, where they are filing charges for things like domestic abuse, DUI and burglary, among other things.  

"We've been working extremely hard and collaborating really closely with local sheriffs, district attorneys, U.S Attorney’s office. It's really a very elaborate intergovernmental dance that has to be done for everyone to keep track of what's going on and be sure that we're communicating,” Cherokee Nation Attorney General Sara Hill said.  

Hill said the Cherokee Nation has filed a “dramatic” number of cases this year because of the change in tribal jurisdiction. So far this year, Hill said the tribe has filed 400 criminal charges, which is more than the previous five years combined.  

Last month, a Rogers County judge dismissed state charges against approximately 150 in-custody defendants but stayed the ruling for 30 days.  A hearing to finalize the decision is Thursday. Unless tribal or federal authorities intervene on all the cases, some will go free instead of standing trial.