Oklahoma's three largest gaming tribes have filed a federal lawsuit against Gov. Kevin Stitt seeking a declaratory judgment that the tribe's gaming compacts automatically renew Wednesday.

The Cherokee, Chickasaw and Choctaw nations filed the lawsuit Tuesday in Oklahoma City federal court, naming Stitt in his official capacity as governor.

“We have a solemn duty to protect the sovereign rights of our Tribal Nations as well as the interests of our citizens," Chickasaw Nation Governor Bill Anoatubby said in a prepared statement that accompanied the filing of the lawsuit. "While we prefer negotiation to litigation, the federal court is now the only reasonable alternative to bring legal certainty to this issue. We remain hopeful we will continue to have a productive and mutually beneficial relationship with the State of Oklahoma once we have resolved this issue.”

The tribes want a federal judge to rule that their 15-year gaming compacts automatically renew on Wednesday.