Cherokee Nation Approves Resolution Allowing For Ticketing Fees To Go Back To Towns

The Council of the Cherokee Nation approved a resolution that allows the tribe to donate revenue from traffic tickets back to the city municipalities.

Following the recent Supreme Court ruling on tribal jurisdiction, Native Americans who were given a traffic ticket or misdemeanor would pay fines to the tribe. With this resolution, the Cherokee Nation can enter into written agreements to donate those fines back to the city where they occurred.

Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. said the tribe wants cities to succeed and not lose funding after the tribal jurisdiction rulings.

“We don’t want the cities around us to lose important revenue streams that help pay salaries and make city upgrades on the heels of the McGirt decision,” Chief Hoskin said. “These agreements will give our partners, who help us with law and order on the reservation, the cushion to continue helping their communities. These agreements will also ensure that our local law enforcement partners continue to provide needed policing to our communities.”

The tribe said the resolution gives the revenue to the towns in exchange for a small fee, equal to what the cities would pay to the state on traffic and misdemeanor tickets.