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ADA, Okla. (KXII) – Its been nearly two years since the McGirt ruling changed the landscape of Oklahoma Law enforcement and its brought unprecedented growth to the Chickasaw nation\u2019s criminal justice system. <\/p>\n
The McGirt ruling turned Oklahoma upside down when it affirmed that tribal land still belonged to the tribes.<\/p>\n
According to Debra Gee with the Chickasaw nation\u2019s office of tribal justice administration says that\u2019s created a lot of new work for them.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn years past it went from 74 cases in one year to now we have over 2,200 from last month,\u201d Gee said. <\/p>\n
Tribal courts were suddenly in charge of trying all the cases for crimes committed on tribal land by or against their members.\t<\/p>\n
To help account with the increased work load the Chickasaw Nation\u2019s criminal justice system has had to increase its work force. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe hired 5 new prosecutors, added to our current staffing for prosecutors,\u201d Gee said. \u201cWe also added more legal support staff to assist us with that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The ruling increased the tribes jurisdiction from roughly 280 miles to nearly 8,000 square miles. <\/p>\n
To help cover that expanded area the Lighthorse police department brought in over 20 new officers as well as eight criminal investigators.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve also put on a number of different trainings on how to work with our office filing their police reports that law enforcement agencies need to submit to us,\u201d Gee said. <\/p>\n
Gee says the expansion had its challenges but cooperation with 72 other jurisdictions has helped lighten their load…<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that there\u2019s just a lot of opportunities for ways to innovate,\u201d Gee said. \u201cHow we could address our, the Chickasaw nations criminal justice system and make it our own.\u201d<\/p>\n
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