By JAMI CUSTER
Reporter 

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – Former Tribal Council attorney Todd Hembree took his oath of office as the Cherokee Nation’s new attorney general during a Jan. 26 special council meeting.

The council’s Rules Committee unanimously approved Principal Chief Bill John Baker’s nomination of Hembree to the position earlier in the day at its meeting. 

“I will equally, fairly enforce the laws of the Cherokee Nation and defend our constitution,” Hembree said. “I cannot promise any more than that, but will not do any less than that.” 

By becoming attorney general, he relinquishes his role as the council’s independent attorney, a position he held for 12 years.

“I first came to this body as the attorney in 1999, and I am proud to have played a small part in building up this institution...this separate, independent, equal branch of government,” he said. “I have spent the majority of my professional career to it, and let me tell you it doesn’t matter what office I hold in the Cherokee Nation, or if I hold no office in the Cherokee Nation, I will always be a strong, sternest defender of this legislative branch.”

Originally from the Greasy community in Adair County, Hembree is a graduate of Stilwell High School, Northeastern State University and the University of Notre Dame Law School. He said he attended Notre Dame on an American Indian Fellowship he received from the tribe. 

“That enabled me the opportunity to go to any school that I wanted to,” he said. “(Notre Dame) also instilled in me a sense of duty that I had especially to the Cherokee tribe and all Native tribes. Had it not been for that scholarship I still would have went to law school, but I don’t think I would have been as successful that I was able to be.”

Several councilors at the Rules Committee meeting expressed appreciation for Hembree’s work as council attorney as well as sadness to his leaving.

Councilor Chuck Hoskin Jr. said “we hate to lose him… it really is a blow to the institution.”

“Now we will recover, but it’s hard to replace him. But it’s a net gain for the Cherokee Nation that Mr. Hembree has agreed to accept the nomination for attorney general,” Hoskin added. “I feel very proud that someone associated with this body is going to represent us as attorney general.”
Also during the committee meeting, Councilor Cara Cowan Watts asked Hembree his position on the status of the tribe’s 1999 Constitution.

“My position on that is quite clear…let there be no doubt that the constitution is the 1999 Constitution,” he said.

Hembree said the tribe is operating under the 1999 Constitution because it was developed and approved by the Cherokee people and confirmed by tribe’s Supreme Court. 

“That’s good enough for me, and I intend to enforce the laws of the Cherokee Nation and defend this constitution,” he said.

Though Hembree’s departure is a loss for the legislative branch, Baker said it’s a gain for his administration.

“Todd has a wealth of Indian law experience,” Baker said. “His professional and personal backgrounds make him a natural fit to be our attorney general.” 

Hembree replaces A. Diane Hammons as attorney general, who tendered her resignation on Jan. 3. Hammons served in the constitutionally mandated position since the CN Supreme Court confirmed the 1999 Constitution in 2006. 

jami-custer@cherokee.org
918-453-5560