‘Gladiator arena filled with prisoners’: OK House approves $8.3M fund for prison rodeo

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — The House of Representatives approved an $8.3 million prison rodeo revival fund that would go towards building a new arena in McAlester.

House Bill 3749 is authored by Representative Jim Grego (R-Wilburton) and Representative J.J. Humphrey (R-Lane). On the Senate side of this legislation, Senator Casey Murdock (R-Felt) authored it.

“More than 100 prisoners will be letting loose at the 40th annual labor day prison rodeo,” said a KTVY reporter in 1982.

The Prison Rodeo, at the State Penitentiary in McAlester, brought in fans from around the world which boosted the local economy.

“You had all the hotels full, you had restaurants full,” previously said Dan M. Reynolds, the prison’s warden from 1991-1994. “As soon as the rodeo was over, we were in a meeting the following week talking about next year’s rodeo.”

Reynolds said the rodeo began in 1940 to help provide medical needs to poor inmates. As it grew in popular, so did the production.

Reynolds said several celebrities, like Wanda Jackson, Reba MacEntire, Beach Boys, Johnny Cash, and Ray Price performed at the rodeo throughout the years.

Inmates would be let out of their cells to try out for the team.

“Many of these guys have ridin’ all their lives, like Pat Potts, who grew up on a farm,” said the reporter on the archive footage.

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“A lot of them had some good talent,” said Reynolds.

Over the years, the prison had budget and hiring freezes, meaning there was no money and staff to keep the arena up and running.

“In 1985, there were even concerns about the structure and the foundation,” said Reynolds. “It just continued to get worse.”

The last rodeo was held in 2009.

Now that the authors of HB3749 want to bring it back, it’s sparked heated debate in the legislature.

“It’s amazing how many of them want to participate. It’s amazing how many of them right now, ask the director and the supervising guards all the time: when are we ever going to bring this prison rodeo back?,” said Rep. Grego. “This is something that has been desperately needed ever since they stopped it in 2009.”

According to Rep. Grego, the rodeo would feature inmates with good behavior who volunteer. Participation would only be available to ‘Level 4’ inmates.

Rep. Grego added inmates’ participation in the rodeo wouldn’t shorten their sentence.

Representative Andy Fugate (D-OKC) said the event still exploits those who participate.

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“These people will sign away their rights for their health. They’ll sign away all of their protections for their health because they are desperate to participate in a spectacle,” he said. “When it’s all said and done, what we will create with this is a gladiator arena filled with prisoners who are desperate to earn time off.”

Rep. Fugate’s concerns ride the coattails of a recent Federal Bureau of Prisons Institutions survey that points out how the Federal Transfer Center in Oklahoma City is overworking its correctional staff, sometimes forcing employees to work at least three back-to-back double shifts in a week.

The survey also exposes a lack of training for staff.

Rep. Grego said participating inmates will have to sign a waiver that would prevent the prison from being held liable for any injuries or death resulting from the event.

Rep. Grego’s proposal would allow for the legislature to appropriate $8.3 million to revitalize the McAlester arena.

The Oklahoma Department of Corrections has already invested $1 million in bringing back the arena.

Rep. Grego was asked where the revenue collected from the prison rodeo would be allocated to. He said he was unsure, but trusted the ODOC to know what’s best.

Rep. Fugate said the legislature doesn’t toss over the financial reigns to any other state agency and questioned why the ODOC would be any different.

The proposal now heads to the Senate floor for consideration.

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