Commercial Real Estate News / Investing / Buying Land for Sale in Oklahoma After McGirt v. Oklahoma

Buying Land for Sale in Oklahoma After McGirt v. Oklahoma

Published: 09-19-21 Category: Investing

Specializes in providing actionable insights into the commercial real estate space for investors, brokers, lessors, and lessees. He covers quarterly market data reports, investment strategies, how-to guides, and top-down perspectives on market movements.

We see a black gavel resting on a black desk.

This article was updated on 8/17/2023.

The McGirt v. Oklahoma ruling from 2020 worried many about buying land for sale in Oklahoma and reinstated an old treaty that left state laws in limbo. Boundaries defined for Native American territory in the 1866 treaty were left unenforced for years. A sex crime case brought the forgotten agreement to light, which caused many to question the practicality of the Supreme Court's ruling.

Non-native property owners, including those with commercial land sites, are concerned about their holdings, which now legally sits on Native American grounds. State zoning laws, regulations, and business operations were subject to change since rules enforced by the state do not apply to Native territories.

Let's take a closer look at how the McGirt v. Oklahoma ruling affects buying land for sale in Oklahoma.

Does McGirt v. Oklahoma Affect Buying Land for Sale in Oklahoma?

The property that non-natives own on Oklahoma Native territory is not subject to tribes' regulations.

In fact, Native Americans cannot enforce tribe laws onto non-natives, except for some caveats regarding businesses. McGirt v. Oklahoma augmented the Muscogee land to clarify where a Native American is subject to Federal and tribal law, but not state law.

Any Native American who either commits a crime or is the victim of one within reservations does not follow Oklahoma's state government conduct. However, they will proceed with the respective tribal government or the federal government, sometimes simultaneously. Natives who engage in or are victims of crime outside of reservation boundaries at the time of the crime are subject to state law.

The same laws and taxes that estate holders followed before remain intact regardless of the McGirt v. Oklahoma ruling.

The 1866 Treaty

The 1866 treaty addressed the post-civil war establishment of boundaries in Oklahoma and prohibited slavery within the newly-chartered reservations.

The agreement gave freed slaves the right to become citizens and own property on Native land as a temporary measure before moving on to other parts of the country. The tribes in Oklahoma, including the Cherokee and Chickasaw, were granted ownership of their treaty land as long as freed slaves could become members of their tribes. Eventually, the freedmen were issued pieces of land in compensation when tribal citizenship for freedmen was never reinforced.

Tribes could not formally sanction more treaties with the United States before white Americans started settling on tribal land. The federal government stopped creating treaties, rendering the Natives without a legal structure that would prevent outsiders from owning their land.

Over time, this slow intrusion blurred the Native boundary lines and thus started the confusion of where tribal laws did and did not apply a century and a half later, leaving many scratching their heads while searching for land for sale in Oklahoma.

It May, However, Affect Commercial Real Estate Property Rights

Questions over natural resources and perceived economic threats to the Native community are a couple of issues the McGirt ruling spawned.

The majority of non-native businesses on the reservation are not subject to tribal laws. However, commercial real estate property owners who are not tribe members do come under tribal regulations when they conduct business with a Native American.

Additionally, non-native corporations conducting business in a way that infringes on the welfare of Natives and their economy can come under Native law or be removed.

Prospecting businesses looking to buy land for sale in Oklahoma within its tribal lines will have to consider these exemptions, as well as the possible reversal of them.

SCOTUS May Revisit Its Decision

The uproar of state and local law enforcement and the Oklahoma felons seeking federal retrials is causing the Supreme Court to question their previous ruling. A key turning point for their reconsideration was a recent crime in which the victims were Native American. The crime was committed within the Chickasaw Nation, but Oklahoma tried the perpetrator under state law and ruled for the death penalty.

The case was retried based on the McGirt ruling, and the criminal was no longer at the mercy of the state law. Since he victimized Natives within reservation bounds, although he is not Native himself, he was exempt from Oklahoma's judgment.

A multitude of cases that could be retried like McGirt is overwhelming the state. This particular consequence could lead to a reversal of McGirt v. Oklahoma.