Car tag compact with state and Cherokee Nation at a stalemate

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — An agreement with Governor Kevin Stitt and the Cherokee Nation on a car tag compact is at a stalemate, with the current compact set to expire December 31.

Both sides have been working for months to come to an agreement.

"I grow more pessimistic by the day,” said Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. "Now I think the odds are underwater."

The current compact has been in place since 2002 with amendments made in 2013. Governor Stitt has been outspoken on concerns he has with the compact in recent months.

"I'm not picking on them (Cherokee Nation),” said Sitt back in May. “I'm just telling Oklahomans the truth of why we need to get this done."

Stitt claimed in the past the Cherokee Nation has not been sharing tag information with law enforcement. During an eight-minute video, posted to the Cherokee Nation Facebook page, Chief Hoskin addressed the claims.

"We've always shared real-time data with law enforcement through the nationally recognized OLETS system. And law enforcement has confirmed they have no problems."

Hoskin said the claims forced him to make the social media post to clear up some confusion.

"We must respond with the facts. Governor Stitt has made several things clear. He does not want Cherokee Nation issuing our own tags and titles. He does not want at-large citizens living closest to our reservation boundaries to be treated like they are Cherokee families who live across the road or a few miles away."

The Cherokee Nation said it was preparing ahead of time if an agreement was not met by the deadline. Now, it will no longer issue tags and titles to citizens living outside of the reservation including renewals.

Governor Stitt also said the Cherokee Nation owed $8 million in turnpike tolls. KFOR reached out to the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority, who verified the amount. Hoskin said the issue was due to the state’s new “plate pay” system.

“We could have solved it through an amendment to the compact a few years ago when they were conceiving of a plate pay, but they didn't think about the tribes,” said Hoskin.

The Cherokee Nation hands out millions in revenue from the tag compact each year to schools, road projects, and law enforcement. Hoskin said without a compact, many communities would be impacted.

"That money goes away. And that's not right, particularly since it's working so well. And so this is real consequences for real people," said Hoskin.

He said the Cherokee Nation was the only tribe that has a compact currently in place with the state that issues its own tags and titles to its citizens. With the compact expiring in December, the future of seven tag offices employing 80 people will be in jeopardy.

"Those jobs would be eliminated if we move to a system in which the state was issuing vanity plates for the Cherokee Nation, which is, I believe, where the Governor would like to take us," said Hoskin.