The City Council on Monday approved an agreement between the City and the Cherokee Nation to cross deputize Bartlesville police and Tribal police, giving both law enforcement entities jurisdiction to prosecute crimes committed by and/or against enrolled members of Indian tribes.
“On July 9, 2020, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in the case of McGirt v. Oklahoma,” Deputy Police Chief Rocky Bevard said in a memo to the council last week. “The ruling of the Supreme Court was in favor of McGirt and the argument that the State of Oklahoma lacked jurisdiction to prosecute crimes committed by and/or against enrolled members of Indian tribes within Indian Country, described as all land within the limits of any Indian reservation under the jurisdiction of the United States Government.”
“Bartlesville lies completely within Indian Country and reservation land of the Cherokee Nation. Therefore, jurisdictional issues could be forthcoming regarding crimes committed by or perpetrated against enrolled members of Indian Tribes within the City of Bartlesville,” he said.
The council voted in support of the agreement, which gives Bartlesville police the authority to enforce Oklahoma laws even in cases where the defendant and/or the victim of the crime is an Indian tribe member.
“The Cherokee Nation and the Bartlesville Police Department are committed to collaborating for preserving the peace and maintaining law and order for all people who live within the City of Bartlesville and the Cherokee Nation,” Bevard said. “The Cherokee Nation extends their law enforcement authority to local law enforcement agencies as outlined in the agreement between the Cherokee Nation and local law enforcement agencies through cross deputation of members of local law enforcement.”
The signed agreement will be filed by the Cherokee Nation Marshalls Service with the State of Oklahoma.
“Once the approval process is completed, the listed personnel are declared deputized law enforcement officials with the Cherokee Marshalls Service.”