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TAHLEQUAH, OK - A lawyer for Chad Smith, Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation, confirms that he has made a formal offer to settle a three-year-old civil rights lawsuit against District Attorney Diane Barker Harrold. Barker Harrold has said that she will not recommend that local law enforcement agencies cross-deputize with the Cherokee Nation Marshal Service until the lawsuit is settled.

"While I do not agree that a personal lawsuit, filed before I became Principal Chief, should be used as a bargaining chip in an unrelated cross-deputization discussion, I have agreed to the terms that the District Attorney outlined to members of the Cherokee Nation Tribal Council," Smith said.

Smith’s lawyer has formally offered to dismiss the case on the terms that Barker Harrold discussed with tribal council members in a meeting earlier this month. Under those terms, the District Attorney would: acknowledge that the Cherokee Courthouse would be considered Indian Country from the settlement date forward; pay a small fee to Smith’s lawyer, Bob Greene; recommend cross-deputization of the Cherokee Nation Marshal Service to law enforcement agencies.

"I am pleased that the District Attorney has publicly expressed a desire to reach a settlement," Smith said. "I hope that these terms are still acceptable and that she will work with us on cross-deputization in the future."