Oklahoma governor says he won’t appeal tribal gaming ruling

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt says he will not appeal a federal court ruling that the state’s tribal gaming compacts had automatically renewed on January 1st.

Stitt had argued that the compacts — which define how much of their gambling revenue the tribes must pay to the state in which games are allowed — had expired. U.S. District Court Judge Timothy DeGiusti in July ruled against Stitt.

The governor said on Friday that his decision comes as the state is facing “unprecedented uncertainty” as a result of July’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling which declared that a swath of eastern Oklahoma counties remains an Indian reservation.