Oklahoma Tribal Gaming Compacts: Fees, Rules, and Renewal

Oklahoma’s tribal gaming compacts are the 35 agreements that let federally recognized tribes run Class III casino games in the state, all built from a single model compact approved by voters through State Question 712 in 2004.¹ In fiscal year 2025, tribal casinos reported roughly $3.64 billion in Class III revenue and paid about $221 million in exclusivity fees to the state.² Each compact sets what games are allowed, what the tribe pays, how the casino must be run, and how long the deal lasts.

The compacts exist because the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 requires a tribal-state agreement before any tribe can offer Class III gaming on Indian lands.³ Class II games like traditional bingo and certain non-banked card games don’t need a compact and don’t trigger fee payments to the state.⁴

What Games the Compact Covers

The model compact defines “covered games” as a specific list of Class III activities: electronic bonanza-style bingo, electronic amusement games, electronic instant bingo, and nonhouse-banked card games such as poker. It also sweeps in any future game authorized by state legislation or approved by the Oklahoma Horse Racing Commission for organizational licensees.⁵

Tribes may add Class II games to the compact by written supplement, but doing so is optional and no fees apply to those games. What the model compact does not authorize is house-banked card games, house-banked table games, or sports wagering. When Governor Kevin Stitt signed separate compacts with a handful of smaller tribes that included those activities, the Oklahoma Supreme Court struck the deals down, finding the governor had exceeded his authority under the State-Tribal Gaming Act.

What Tribes Pay the State

Exclusivity fees are the price tribes pay for the right to run casino-style gaming without outside competition. For electronic games, the rate climbs on a sliding scale tied to annual adjusted gross revenues:⁶

4% on the first $10 million
5% on the next $10 million
6% on everything above $20 million

Table games carry a flat 10% of the monthly net win.⁶ A casino generating $50 million in annual electronic game revenue would owe $400,000 at the first tier, $500,000 at the second, and $1.8 million at the third, for $2.7 million in electronic game fees before any table game fees are added.

Where the Money Goes

The first $250,000 collected each year goes to the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services for gambling education and treatment. After that, 88% flows to the Education Reform Revolving Fund (the “1017 Fund”), which only the Department of Common Education can spend, and 12% goes to the General Revenue Fund. The education allocation was a central argument for SQ 712 in 2004.

Operating Rules Tribes Must Follow

The model compact at Title 3A, Section 281 sets specific operating standards every signing tribe must meet. These cover independent regulation, insurance, surveillance, and employee licensing.

Tribal Compliance Agency

Each tribe must create a Tribal Compliance Agency separate from the casino itself. No casino employee can serve as a TCA member or employee, and compliance officers report only to the agency, not to casino management. At least one compliance officer must be on duty during all hours of operation with unrestricted access to every area of the facility.⁵ TCA members themselves must pass background checks and hold licenses meeting the same standards applied to casino employees.

Liability Insurance

Before opening, the gaming enterprise must carry public liability coverage of at least $250,000 per person and $2 million per occurrence for personal injury, plus $1 million per occurrence for property damage, or the matching limits under Oklahoma’s Governmental Tort Claims Act if those are higher. The policy must include an endorsement barring the insurer from invoking tribal sovereign immunity against claims filed within those limits.⁵ That endorsement gives injured patrons a real path to compensation.

Surveillance and Audits

Gaming areas must be monitored, with activity logs and video kept for at least a year, and certain operational records for three. The TCA has to arrange an independent annual financial audit of covered-game revenues and expenses that verifies the adjusted gross revenue figures used to calculate exclusivity fees. The finished audit goes to the State Compliance Agency within 30 days.⁵ State agents also have the right to enter gaming areas for their own inspections.

Employee Background Checks

Federal rules require background investigations on two categories of staff. Key employees include floor managers, pit bosses, dealers, counting room supervisors, security chiefs, anyone with unescorted access to secured gaming areas, and the four highest-paid employees not already licensed. Primary management officials include anyone with hire-and-fire authority, the general manager, and the chief financial officer. Tribes apply standards at least as strict as the federal baseline, and false statements on an application can trigger license denial, suspension, or criminal prosecution under 18 U.S.C. § 1001.⁷

How Compact Disputes Get Resolved

When either side believes the other has violated the compact, the complaining party first serves written notice identifying the specific provision and the facts behind the claim. Representatives then have 30 days to meet and try to work it out informally.⁸

If informal talks fail, either side can push the dispute into binding arbitration under American Arbitration Association rules. The state and the tribe both waive sovereign immunity for the limited purpose of arbitration and any court action that follows. Costs split evenly, and a frivolous claim can draw a fee-shifting order.⁸ Either party can also take the arbitrator’s award to federal district court for de novo review, so the court isn’t bound by the arbitrator’s conclusions.

Duration and the Evergreen Clause

Part 15 of the model compact set an initial expiration of January 1, 2020, with a built-in automatic renewal. If the state authorizes electronic gaming in any form beyond pari-mutuel wagering on live horse racing after the compact’s effective date, the compact renews automatically for successive 15-year terms. Within 180 days of any expiration or renewal date, either party can ask to renegotiate the exclusivity fee provisions, but not the broader compact terms.⁵

The state can terminate a compact early only under narrow conditions: a material breach of a tobacco compact confirmed in the agreed dispute forum, or a violation of certain tax compliance provisions. The tribe gets a 30-day cure period before termination takes effect.⁵

The 2020 Renewal Fight

Governor Stitt took office in 2019 arguing the compacts would expire at the end of their initial term and that tribes needed new deals at higher rates. The Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee (Creek), and Seminole Nations disagreed, pointing to the evergreen clause and the fact that Oklahoma had already authorized electronic gaming at racetracks. The dispute landed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma, where Judge Timothy DeGiusti ruled in mid-2020 that the compacts had automatically renewed for another 15 years. Governor Stitt did not appeal. The 35 compacts now operating under the original model are in force through at least January 1, 2035.

How a New Compact Gets Approved

Adding a new compact or reauthorizing one at the federal level runs through three governments. The tribe’s governing body adopts a gaming ordinance and submits it to the Chairman of the National Indian Gaming Commission, who publishes the approved ordinance in the Federal Register.³

The tribe and the Governor of Oklahoma separately negotiate and sign the compact itself. The signed agreement then goes to the U.S. Secretary of the Interior, who has 45 days to approve or disapprove it. If the Secretary does nothing in that window, the compact is deemed approved to the extent it is consistent with IGRA.³ Publication in the Federal Register is the final step, and gaming can begin only after publication.⁹

If a state refuses to negotiate in good faith, the tribe can sue in federal court. If the court agrees, it orders both sides to conclude a compact within 60 days. Failing that, a court-appointed mediator picks the offer that best aligns with federal law, and a state that rejects the mediator’s choice risks having the Secretary of the Interior impose gaming procedures directly.

Who to Contact on the State Side

The Office of Management and Enterprise Services runs the Gaming Compliance Unit, which is Oklahoma’s regulatory point of contact with tribal casinos. The unit verifies exclusivity fee calculations, reviews the annual audits submitted by each Tribal Compliance Agency, and conducts facility inspections.⁹ Day-to-day oversight stays with the tribal agencies; the state monitors from the outside.

1
Office of Management & Enterprise Services. Compacted Tribes
2
Office of Management & Enterprise Services. Gaming Compliance Report 2025
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 25 USC 2710 – Tribal Gaming Ordinances
4
Legal Information Institute. Definition: Class II Gaming From 25 USC 2703(7)
5
Justia. Oklahoma Code 3A-281 – Model Tribal Gaming Compact
6
Oklahoma Gaming Compliance Commission. Gaming Exclusivity Fees
7
National Indian Gaming Commission. Tribal Background Investigations and Licensing
8
Oklahoma Gaming Compliance Commission. Model Tribal Gaming Compact
9
Office of Management & Enterprise Services. Gaming Compliance Unit