OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — After months of delays, stalemates, and deadline extensions, the State of Oklahoma has finally come to an agreement with Cherokee Nation leaders to extend their car tag compact for 10 more years.
The tentative agreement, announced Tuesday, will settle disputes the state had with the tribe over things including the tribe’s right to run its own tag offices and disperse tag revenue, and the state’s inability to charge tolls to drivers with tribal tags.
The current compact was set to expire on December 31. The extended compact will take effect on January 1.
There’s been a lot of mudslinging between Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt and Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. while the compact has been up for renewal this past year.
Much of it had to do with the larger overall issue of tribal sovereignty.
"Kevin Stitt, really doesn't see a world in which tribes are able to exercise meaningful tribal sovereignty,” Hoskin Jr. said in March 2024.
“I absolutely will not give Eastern Oklahoma over to [be] reservation for all purposes,” Stitt said in July 2023.
At times, Stitt refused to negotiate with the tribe on a motor vehicle compact or a tobacco sales compact, insisting that they agree to a compact he had written without making any changes.
"I will not give an inch,” Stitt said in July 2023.
Earlier this year, Stitt came to the table and negotiated with tribes on tobacco compacts, eventually coming to an agreement with Cherokee Nation on tobacco sales.
But the state and tribe still could not agree on a car tag compact.
"I grow more pessimistic by the day,” Hoskin Jr. said in September. "Now I think the odds are underwater."
Finally, on Tuesday, Stitt and Cherokee Nation leaders announced they came to a tentative agreement to extend the compact for 10 more years.
Under the tentative agreement, Cherokee Nation will be able to keep operating its own tag offices on its reservation for Cherokee citizens to purchase tribal tags.
That was something Hoskin feared would go away without a new agreement.
"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,” Hoskin said in September 2024.
Under the new agreement, Cherokee citizens living on the reservation must purchase their tags from a Cherokee tag office, and Cherokee citizens living off the reservation will have the option to register at state tag offices, or at tribal ones.
Another key contention point that held up discussions was the inability of the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority’s ‘PlatePay’ cashless toll scanners to read tribal tags.
Stitt said that led to millions in unpaid tolls from Cherokee drivers.
“I just called this morning and the Cherokee plate play balance is $5.63 million,” Stitt said in May 2024. “That's just over the last, I think I don't know, six, seven, eight months.”
Hoskin argued, if the PlatePay readers couldn’t read tribal tags, that was a problem the state would need to fix.
Now, with the tentative agreement, plate pay readers will have full access to Cherokee Nation’s vehicle registration database containing the information needed for the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority to bill drivers with Cherokee tags.
Additionally, Cherokee Nation will pay the state $2 million over the next three years to make up for current unpaid tolls by Cherokee citizens.
It’s unclear exactly what prompted the agreement to finally come to fruition.
News 4 reached out to Stitt’s office and Hoskin’s offices on Tuesday.
Stitt’s office never responded.
Hoskin’s office said he would be available for comment once the compact is officially approved by Cherokee Nation leaders.
However, both Hoskin and Stitt released statements on Tuesday.
Our goal throughout this process has been a compact that continues to benefit Cherokee Nation citizens, Oklahoman communities, and ensures our tribe continues to serve and provide for our citizens. The new compact is a government-to-government agreement that will protect the rights of our citizens and ensure we can continue to provide essential funding for public schools, roads, and law enforcement agencies. I am grateful for the good faith negotiations from our partners in Oklahoma and the support of the Cherokee people for this fundamental exercise of our self-determination and government interests.
Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin, Jr.
We’re all Oklahomans and we all drive on the same roads and bridges. It’s important that we’re all contributing to the things that make us a top ten state. I appreciate the cooperation of Cherokee leadership to reach an agreement, especially as it pertains to the ability to collect tolls on our turnpikes.
Governor Kevin Stitt
