Officials with Governor Kevin Stitt announced Friday that the State of Oklahoma has engaged Perkins Coie Law Firm to assist in negotiations a revised gaming compact with Oklahoma gaming tribes.
“With Perkins Coie, the State of Oklahoma is well positioned to work towards a compact that protects core public services and advances the future of our great state, its four million residents, and gaming tribes. Perkins Coie will also respond to and address the Chickasaw, Cherokee, and Choctaw Nations’ federal lawsuit filed on New Year’s Eve. The legal experts at Perkins Coie have successfully represented other states in Indian law controversies, to include the State of New Mexico’s compact dispute in 2015,” said Gov. Kevin Stitt.
The Chickasaw, Cherokee, and Choctaw Nations sued the State through Gov. Stitt stating that his statements about the Model Gaming Compact expiring on Jan. 1, 2020 violated federal law and that the gaming compact automatically would renew.
Officials say Perkins Coie Law Firm will assist in defending the federal lawsuit and will also provide counsel regarding the negotitaions of the compact.
Perkins Coie has "extensive litigation experience, including successfully challenging federal regulations invoked by a gaming tribe to circumvent IGRA's compact requirement on behalf of the State of New Mexico in 2015," according to a press release.
Perkins Coie Law Firm assisted the State of New Mexico in negotiating a new gaming compact with five other tribes whose compact were also set to expire that year, according to a press release. "Since that time, a dozen other New Mexico tribes opted into the new gaming compact."
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