The New Frontier: Civil Jurisdiction in the 10th Circuit

McGirt changed the map—but it also changed the battlefield.

After McGirt v. Oklahoma, most public attention fixated on criminal prosecutions: who can charge, where cases must be filed, and what happens to old convictions. Those fights are still real, but a quieter (and arguably more economically significant) conflict has moved to the foreground:

Civil and regulatory jurisdiction—taxation, licensing, municipal enforcement, environmental regulation, and the day-to-day power to govern.

This is where “sovereignty” stops being a slogan and becomes a practical question: Who has authority over what—and over whom—on this land?

McGirt’s core holding (and the common misunderstanding)

McGirt is widely discussed as “half of Oklahoma is a reservation.” That shorthand is catchy—and also a reliable way to confuse clients.

McGirt’s key point: the Muscogee (Creek) Reservation was never disestablished for purposes of federal criminal law, and reservation boundaries matter for determining “Indian Country” and jurisdiction.

The mistake people make is assuming:

• “Reservation exists” = “State law doesn’t apply.”

That is not how civil jurisdiction works. Civil and regulatory authority depends on a layered matrix of:

• who (tribal member vs nonmember),
• where (trust/restricted land vs non-Indian fee land),
• what (tax, licensing, zoning, environmental, contract dispute, tort claim),
• which court (tribal, state, or federal), and
• whether Congress has spoken (explicit authorization or preemption).

The Tenth Circuit’s role: why this is a “10th Circuit” story

The Tenth Circuit covers Oklahoma (plus Kansas, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming). Many of the post-McGirt civil and sovereignty disputes end up there because they involve:

• federal questions about Indian Country,
• civil rights claims tied to enforcement authority,
• intergovernmental lawsuits, and
• requests for declaratory/injunctive relief.

In other words: if your dispute is about power, it’s likely headed to federal court.

Where the civil/regulatory fights are happening now

1) Municipal enforcement inside reservation boundaries

Traffic citations, municipal court authority, code enforcement, and city regulatory power are no longer “background noise.” They’re front-line jurisdiction disputes.

These cases often look small (a ticket, a fine, a municipal summons), but they’re not. They’re proxy wars about who governs.

2) State taxation vs tribal citizens and tribal economies

Tax disputes are one of the clearest examples of the civil jurisdiction frontier because they hit real money:

• income taxes
• sales and use taxes
• tobacco and motor fuel compacts
• business licensing and tax audits

Even when a reservation’s existence is settled, the tax outcome can turn on land status and the specific tax type. “I live in Indian Country” is rarely the end of the analysis.

3) Environmental and natural resource regulation

Environmental regulation is sovereignty in work boots:

• permitting authority
• water quality standards
• air quality enforcement
• waste and remediation issues

Here, the federal overlay is heavy, and the disputes often involve cooperative federalism frameworks where tribes may seek “treatment as state” status and regulatory primacy in certain programs.

4) Business regulation and civil adjudicatory jurisdiction

Civil jurisdiction shows up in:

• contract disputes involving tribal entities
• employment issues
• consumer lending and licensing disputes
• tort claims that occur within reservation boundaries
• questions about tribal court jurisdiction over nonmembers (and when federal courts must let tribal courts decide first)

For businesses, the real risk is assuming there is only one regulator or only one courthouse. In many disputes, there are at least two.

The actual legal framework (in plain English)

If you want a usable working model, start with these three filters:

The “Montana problem” (and why nonmembers drive litigation)

A huge chunk of modern civil jurisdiction litigation comes down to one question:

Can a tribe regulate (or exercise civil jurisdiction over) nonmembers on non-Indian land within the reservation?

Federal law often answers: generally no—unless an exception applies (commonly framed through the Montana doctrine and its exceptions).

Practically, that means many civil disputes become fights over:

• consent and commercial relationships (contracts, leases, licensing)
• direct impacts on tribal health/welfare/safety
• the tribe’s ability to govern effectively inside its own borders

This is exactly why the “new frontier” is civil: nonmember activity is where the sovereignty edge cases live.

Why this matters to regular people (not just governments)

Even if you never plan to sue anyone, civil jurisdiction affects:

• where you can be ticketed and prosecuted for municipal violations
• which permits your business needs
• whether a state agency can regulate a project
• whether a tribal court order will be recognized and enforced
• what happens after an accident on reservation land
• whether a contract clause about venue/jurisdiction will hold up

In short: it determines whose rules apply, who enforces them, and where disputes get decided.

A candid take: the next decade will be about systems, not slogans

McGirt didn’t “end” anything. It forced Oklahoma to confront a reality that was always there and long ignored: sovereignty doesn’t disappear because it’s inconvenient.

The next phase won’t be won by press conferences. It will be won (or lost) through:

• compacts and intergovernmental agreements,
• regulatory infrastructure,
• careful litigation in federal courts, and
• disciplined messaging that doesn’t overpromise what McGirt actually did.

Practical guidance for businesses and professionals operating in eastern Oklahoma

If you operate within reservation boundaries, take these seriously:

1. Assume overlapping jurisdiction until proven otherwise.
2. Audit your contracts for forum selection, sovereign immunity waivers, arbitration clauses, and choice-of-law provisions.
3. Map your locations by land status if your operations are land-dependent.
4. Don’t wait for enforcement to learn the rules—especially in licensing and environmental compliance.