Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt has appointed Russell Cochran as a special prosecutor in a continuing conflict with Attorney General Gentner Drummond over the state’s authority to pursue wildlife crimes involving tribal citizens in eastern Oklahoma.
Cochran, a former assistant district attorney for Lincoln and Pottawatomie counties and the former general counsel for the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics, was tapped Nov. 13 to oversee select prosecutions Stitt says are being undermined by Drummond. The appointment comes as state and tribal officials continue to clash over which governments should have civil and criminal jurisdiction over tribal citizens within the Indian Country reservation boundaries affirmed after the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2020 McGirt ruling.
“State and federal courts have been clear. The state of Oklahoma can prosecute Indians who commit non-major crimes in our state,” Stitt said in announcing Cochran’s appointment. “I will not stand by and allow lawless Drummond to undermine district attorneys who are prosecuting crimes and keeping Oklahomans safe.”
On Oct. 29, Drummond entered an appearance in the Pushmataha County criminal case filed against a Choctaw tribal citizen cited by an Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation warden for hunting without a state license on state-managed land in southeast Oklahoma, which falls within the Choctaw Reservation. Drummond dismissed the case immediately upon taking over, but that same case has since been refiled by Cochran.
Stitt accused the attorney general of disregarding state law and bowing to political pressure from his campaign donors. Drummond, meanwhile, said Stitt’s directives to ODWC are legally indefensible, damage state-tribal relations and violate long-standing principles of tribal sovereignty.
Drummond declares ODWC policy unlawful
In a sharply worded Nov. 13 letter to ODWC director Wade Free, Drummond warned the agency must rescind what he called a “misguided and unlawful policy” of issuing citations to tribal citizens hunting or fishing within Indian Country without a state permit. He said Stitt’s directive ignores federal law and “exposes individual ODWC officers to personal liability.”
“These enforcement actions are not merely ill-advised — they are unlawful,” Drummond wrote. “They waste limited law enforcement and prosecutorial resources on cases that cannot succeed. And they inflict significant harm on the state’s government-to-government relationships with the Five Tribes — relationships that took years to rebuild and that benefit all Oklahomans.”
Drummond argued that Oklahoma lacks authority to prosecute tribal citizens for hunting and fishing on reservation lands under tribal authorization, calling the state’s interpretation of recent case law a “stark misreading.” He noted reports that ODWC officers were threatening tribal members engaged in lawful tribal-regulated activity, referring citations to the governor’s office and compiling investigative files on individuals exercising treaty-protected rights.
In an Oct. 8 press release, ODWC officials said game wardens would continue enforcing state wildlife laws “regardless of tribal citizenship,” pointing to the recent Oklahoma Supreme Court decision in Stroble v. Oklahoma Tax Commission, which examined whether tribal citizens who live within their tribe’s reservation boundaries and derive their income from a tribal source are exempt from state income taxation — a civil jurisdictional authority.
While petitioner Alicia Stroble has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review her case, ODWC spokesperson Micah Holmes said the agency believes the ruling confirms that state fish and wildlife regulations apply to all Oklahomans.
In his letter to Free, however, Drummond argued the state’s hunting and fishing regulations constitute criminal jurisdiction and that “the Oklahoma Supreme Court explicitly stated it was not addressing criminal jurisdiction” in the Stroble decision.
“To date, the United States Supreme Court has not extended its ruling in McGirt beyond the Major Crimes Act,” the justices wrote in a per curiam opinion. “To date, the United States Supreme Court has not extended its ruling in McGirt to the state’s civil or taxing jurisdiction. And it is not this court’s place to do so.”
If the matter were litigated, Drummond argued it would require “a particularized, case-specific application of the Bracker balancing test,” which weighs the harms of a situation among competing governments.
“Your policy cannot survive this analysis,” Drummond wrote, “particularly given that each of the Five Tribes has enacted comprehensive wildlife codes governing their members’ hunting and fishing activities, these codes were developed in consultation with ODWC officials, who raised no objections (and) the tribes actively enforce these codes through their own conservation officers.”
Drummond gave Free a deadline of 5 p.m. Monday, Nov. 17, to reply in writing and confirm ODWC has “rescinded or will immediately rescind its Oct. 7, 2025, directive and any related enforcement policies regarding tribal members hunting and fishing in Indian Country.”
Drummond also asked that Free instruct all game wardens to cease enforcement of the policy, withdraw all pending citations written within Indian Country, work cooperatively with the Five Tribes to address concerns, and give a detailed explanation of what prompted the Oct. 7 directive.
Drummond warned he is prepared to litigate against ODWC if he does not hear from Free by the deadline.
“The law on these issues is clear. The risks of continuing on the current path are substantial,” Drummond wrote. “And the solution is straightforward: return to the cooperative, respectful approach that has served Oklahoma and the tribes well for years.”
Drummond’s statement appeared to be a reference to the prior compacts between the state and tribal nations, which Stitt allowed to expire in 2021 after citing price disparities and the Cherokee and Choctaw nations’ failure to meet required license sales.
State wildlife cases refiled against tribal citizens
The same day he was appointed, Cochran refiled the case Drummond had dismissed Oct 29 in Pushmataha County. Records show a misdemeanor charge of hunting without a license was filed against Choctaw Nation citizen Shawn Robertson.
Robertson was originally cited Oct. 14 for hunting without a state license at the Hugo Wildlife Management Area after a game warden found him pulling a boat from the Kiamichi River.
The probable cause affidavit states ODWC game warden James Gillham issued the citation after seeing Robertson extricating his boat from the Kiamichi River near Rattan Landing, a recreational area located east of Antlers in southeast Oklahoma. According to the game warden, the property is located within the Hugo Wildlife Management Area, which is managed by ODWC.
Gillham reported that Robertson, dressed in hunting gear with a compound bow and arrows in his boat, admitted he did not have a state hunting license, but he told the game warden he was a tribal member. Robertson also admitted to not having his tribal membership card on him, according to Gillham’s probable cause affidavit.
Pushmataha County District Attorney Mark Matloff filed the citation, but Drummond exercised a state statute giving the attorney general authority to assume control of criminal cases.
Judge Nicholas Tucker granted the dismissal. Court records show Tucker also received the new case against Robertson that Cochran refiled. A hearing in the case had yet to be scheduled prior to the publication of this article.
On Nov. 13, Cochran also refiled a Murray County wildlife case that had been dismissed a week earlier.
Records show Chickasaw Nation citizen Kodie Shepherd was cited for hunting without a license in a case originally filed Nov. 7 by Murray County District Attorney Melissa Handke, whom Stitt designated as a special prosecutor “to protect the interests of the state and prosecute offenses against the law of the state.”
Abegail Cave, the governor’s communications director, said Shepherd was cited for hunting within the Chickasaw National Recreation Area near the Rock Creek campground.
But court filings shows Handke resigned as special prosecutor Nov. 12 and dismissed the case against Shepherd.
Asked about Handke’s appointment and resignation, Cave said Handke stepped down after being “threatened” by the attorney general.
“Drummond called up Melissa Handke and basically said he would prosecute her if she pursued that case and threatened
her,” Cave said.
Phil Bacharach, a spokesman for Drummond’s office, said no threat was made.
“The attorney general suggested informally to DA Handke that she review the dual-office prohibition,” Bacharach said. “The district attorney notified our office a few hours later that she would be stepping down as special prosecutor.”
Documents in Shepherd’s case were requested by phone from the Murray County Court Clerk’s Office, but an employee said the office does not e-mail documents and said they had to be picked up in person in Sulphur.
