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Tahlequah, OK - According to the Cherokee County District attorney, the Cherokee Nation Courthouse Square is not Indian Country. On June 20, 1997 Chad Smith, now Chief of the Cherokee Nation, Oklahoma (CNO ), was arrested while hundreds of Cherokee Tribal members attempted to take back the the CNO Courthouse which had been taken over by the former chief.

According to, now Chief Chad Smith, who was arrested on trespassing charges, the land is Indian Country and the arrest is subject to the laws of same, as per a suit filed by Smith. See RealPlayer Video Of Chad Smith's Arrest!

District Attorney Dianne Barker Harrold issued a statement which said that the arrest was in connection with the failure of the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office and the tribe to reach a cross-deputization agreement at that time.

The arrest stemmed from the actions by former chief, Joe Byrd. The former chief had taken over the Cherokee Nation's Courthouse, locking it down using his own private police force. Byrd had fired the entire Cherokee Nation's Marshall Service and rehired his own private police force, after a search warrant had been legally served by the CNO Marshall Service. The legal warrant had been issued by the Judicial Appeals Tribunal (JAT). The JAT is the Cherokee Nation, Oklahoma's version of the U.S. Supreme Court.

The warrant concerned allegations of the misuse of tribal and U.S. Government funds. Later, after the books had been audited, the CNO was ordered to pay back missing funds, and put on an allowance by the U.S. Government. No charges, however, were issued.

"The central issue is whether the Cherokee Nation Courthouse is Indian Country," Barker Harrold said.

According to Baker Harrold, "The Bureau of Indian Affairs and the U.S. Attorney's Office have consistently stated that the Cherokee Nation's Courthouse Square is not Indian Country." Baker Harrold added, "This is also our belief."

Diane Barker Harrold's statement was issued after a spokesperson for the tribe said she had agreed to support cross-deputization if the Smith lawsuit was dropped.

The tribes spokesperson also said that the district attorney agreed to say that she recognizes the square in downtown Tahlequah "is Indian Country and not under the jurisdiction of state, city or county governments." An attorney for the tribe, said the district attorney had made that agreement in an executive session with the tribal council.

Barker Harrold said a final determination would be better than "simple dismissal of the lawsuit", and said that she issued her statement to clarify her position.

According to Chief Smith, who is also a lawyer, sheriffs from Cherokee and surrounding counties did not have jurisdiction over the courthouse property when he was arrested. There was no cross-deputization agreement in effect at the time of Chief Smith's arrest.

The lawsuit, which Chief Chad Smith filed, holds that the Cherokee Courthouse Square is in Indian Country, Smith stated that the suit "is about the sovereignty of the Cherokee Nation. I don't want a penny."

Cherokee Nation Council members have said they hope that the district attorney and the chief can settle the matter out of court.

Barker Harrold said, "It was the consensus of both the council and myself that we all serve the same constituents and want to move forward for the betterment of all concerned." She added that she is, "unequivocally opposed to cross-deputization and the lawsuits against the three county sheriffs have prompted their lawyers to discourage cross-deputization until the lawsuits are settled."

According to the prosecutor's office, charges by the State of Oklahoma against Chief Smith, that stem from the same 1997 incident, are still pending.