Oklahoma court adds tribe to those covered by McGirt ruling

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The Quapaw Nation in Oklahoma has become the sixth tribe included in those covered by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that the state has no jurisdiction over crimes committed on tribal reservations by or against tribal citizens.

The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals on Thursday upheld the dismissal of a lewdness charge in Ottawa County against 39-year-old Jeremy Lawhorn. The appeals court agreed that Lawhorn is a member of the Quapaw Nation, that the crime occurred on the tribe’s reservation, and that the state has no jurisdiction.

The Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee, and Seminole nations were previously included under what is known as the McGirt decision.