Governor says federal DOJ sued county DA over reservation prosecution after McGirt, vows support for local prosecutors

Governor (name not specified), the governor of Oklahoma, described a legal dispute in which the U.S. Department of Justice sued a locally elected district attorney, saying the case involved jurisdictional questions on tribal land following the McGirt decision.

"So Ballard, the district attorney who is elected to defend and protect the citizens of his county, files a suit files a, a criminal charge against this person... The Biden Department of Justice sued Ballard, our district attorney, and said, no. No. No. You can't prosecute this Indian because it's it's on reservation," the governor said, discussing a case where he said a nonresident allegedly committed crimes in Oklahoma.

The governor said the state attorney general declined to defend Ballard and that the administration has sought funding to defend local district attorneys in litigation against the United States. He also said tribal governments have intervened in some cases and filed competing charges.

"We have to now go get money to defend our own district attorneys to be able to fight these cases against the United States government," he said, and added he has asked the Trump Department of Justice to intervene and drop the case.

The governor named Ballard and other local prosecutors (Iskey, Ballard and Ocmulgee referenced) and said tribes including the Creeks and Cherokees had intervened. He framed the issue as one of local prosecutors' ability to protect citizens and said the legal landscape after McGirt has created complex federal-tribal-state jurisdictional questions.

No new state legal action or legislative proposal was announced during the press conference; the administration said it is seeking resources and federal cooperation to resolve the litigation and protecxt local prosecutorial authority.