Governor Stitt Responds to Federal Judge’s Rejection of Poultry Settlement Agreements

OKLAHOMA CITY (April 8, 2026) - Governor Kevin Stitt issued the following statement after a federal judge rejected proposed settlement agreements that Attorney General Drummond attempted to enter into after the judge decided the case.

“My heart goes out to the poultry growers in Eastern Oklahoma. The uncertainty they face is unimaginable, and it was preventable if Attorney General Drummond had simply withdrawn from this 20-year-old Democrat lawsuit,” said Governor Kevin Stitt.

After decades of litigation, the Attorney General left the economic fates of these poultry growers to the courts despite ample opportunity to settle in a manner that protects the environment and the growers’ livelihoods. After the court ruled, he rushed to settle in a way that would have created an unsustainable checkerboard of regulations. This ruling will harm the poultry growers’ ability to earn a living and will saddle them with millions of dollars of remediation costs.

Governor Stitt has long been an advocate of a settlement agreement that creates clarity for all growers.

Governor Stitt’s response to the first settlement agreement can be found here.

Governor Stitt’s November letter issued to the Attorney General is available here.

Governor Stitt received a letter in March of 2026 from the Oklahoma Secretaries of Agriculture and Energy and Environment concerning these proposed settlements.

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