Overview
- The U.S. Supreme Court, which on Monday declined to hear Alicia Stroble’s appeal, left in place an Oklahoma ruling that denied her claim for state income tax refunds.
- The Oklahoma Supreme Court had ruled that McGirt’s recognition of reservation boundaries applies to criminal jurisdiction, not to state civil or tax authority.
- The state court found Stroble lived on unrestricted private fee land in Okmulgee and worked for the Muscogee Nation, so she did not qualify for a tribal-income exemption.
- Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt praised the outcome as fair for all residents, and the Cherokee Nation said the refusal to review weakens tribal sovereignty and defies federal tax precedents.
- The decision signals that tribal citizens in eastern Oklahoma remain subject to state income tax unless they both live and work on tribal trust land.