The prison system struggles with violence and a flat budget. But lawmakers are focused on bringing back the rodeo

Late last fall, as state lawmakers prepared for the 2024 legislative session, Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt began talking about the need for tax cuts. He renewed that call in January during his State of the State speech.

Tax cuts, the governor said, wouldn't get Oklahoma into trouble. The problem, he said, was the unrestricted growth of government.

"I’m calling for flat budgets across state government this year," Stitt said in February. "To be clear: I’m not advocating for cutting core services. What I am advocating for is a sustainable amount of growth where we are funding needs not wants."

At the same time, the Federal Bureau of Prisons was reporting that as of Dec. 31, 2022, Oklahoma had 22,745 people in its prison system, a 2.3% increase from December 2021.

Oklahoma had the country's fourth-highest incarceration rate in 2022, trailing only behind Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas.

DOC chief endorses call for 'flat budget,' but with a prison rodeo

But Oklahoma Department of Corrections leaders took the governor seriously. At the beginning of the year, corrections officials said they supported the governor's hold-the-line plan. A media statement from the department, issued in January, said the state Corrections Department would submit a flat budget request for FY 2025. During their budget hearing, corrections officials requested an appropriation of $552 million. The state Corrections Department’s total Fiscal Year 2024 budget was $643.2 million, including $68.1 million in revolving funds and $2.8 million in federal dollars.

Corrections Department Executive Director Steven Harpe said he had proactively found efficiencies that protected the taxpayers’ dollars through innovations, including upgrading technology and streamlining operational processes, thus allowing for the flat request.

More: Oklahoma state prisons plagued by violence, one of the highest homicide rates in the nation

“It is our responsibility to ensure we take care of those incarcerated in our system while adhering to a strict budget. By embracing forward-thinking approaches, ODOC can become a more efficient and effective correctional system while still protecting public safety,” Harpe said in a statement. “That is why I set this goal, to modernize our processes and to serve our employees and inmates better.”

Harpe did not seek more money for the hundreds of millions of dollars needed to repair and upgrade the system's aging infrastructure and meet the challenge of an increasing prison population. But Corrections Department officials did ask for an exception to their flat budget plan — more money for a prison rodeo.

Bundled in the agency's FY 2025 request was a line item for $8.3 million to create the Oklahoma State Penitentiary Prison Rodeo Revolving Fund. Harpe's media statement said the fund would be used solely for upgrading and rehabilitating the Oklahoma State Penitentiary Prison Rodeo arena.

DOC has already spent $1 million to repair prison rodeo arena

Harpe said reviving the prison rodeo would create program opportunities and promote economic development in southeastern Oklahoma. The state Corrections Department has already invested $1 million in rollover funds into repairing the rodeo arena at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester.

“Bringing back the beloved rodeo is very exciting,” he said. “We’re ready to begin the process and see Oklahomans fill the stands and be entertained. The inmates are also excited about the reinstatement of the rodeo and want to be involved.”

Harpe's rodeo request got a warm reception in the Oklahoma Senate. In March, the Senate passed Senate Bill 1427, which created the revolving fund for the rodeo and earmarked $8.3 million for the project. Sen. Warren Hamilton, R-McCurtain, authored the bill.

Hamilton said the rodeo reboot would "boost morale for incarcerated Oklahomans while also promoting tourism and generating revenue."

Opinion: Oklahoma needs to focus on prison reforms, not exploiting inmates with rodeo

“The sport of rodeo is a classic American pastime that brings communities together,” Hamilton said in a media statement. “Our partners at DOC are committed to improving the lives of incarcerated Oklahomans, and revitalizing the prison rodeo is one way we can help them carry out their mission. Creating opportunities for inmates in our state will encourage them to remain in good behavioral standing so they can partake in the rodeo events, while also providing a positive setting for the community to rally around them and support them.”

Hamilton said the revitalization efforts were widely supported in the McAlester community and across the state. He said enhancements to the rodeo arena "will make it suitable for additional rodeos, concerts, sporting events, and more." He noted that the Professional Bull Riders, Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association and other organizations had expressed interest in utilizing the facilities once construction is complete, "furthering the economic impact for surrounding communities and the entire state."

Not everyone, though, is a rodeo fan.

Emily Barnes, founder of the prison advocacy organization Hooked on Justice, questioned why a rodeo should come back when other areas in the Corrections Department need more attention.

“How can we come up with a $8.4 million grant to build a rodeo, but we can’t come up with money to have more programs or to fix our prisons?” Barnes said.

And though state Rep. Justin Humphrey, R-Lane, said he supports the prison rodeo, Humphrey said he didn't want the department to "put the cart before the horse," saying the department needs to fix ongoing problems. Humphrey raised issues of violence, rape and low staffing levels during a legislative hearing last week.

If the department does the rodeo right, he said, it could bring in money, but that's a big "if," Humphrey said.

"If you have rapes going on, if you have murders going on, if you have all of these other issues that we're plagued with, shortage of staff, we have to get that first," he said. "It is key they put them in [the] right order and we make sure that inmates are safe, the staff is safe and the public is safe before we start having a conversation."

With just two months remaining in the 2024 legislative session, lawmakers from the House and Senate are reviewing each other's budget proposals. And even though the two chambers are, at present, billions of dollars apart on a final budget, both appear to have embraced the idea of a prison rodeo.

SB 1427 is currently awaiting a hearing in the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Public Safety. The legislative session adjourns at 5 p.m. May 31.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Rodeo plan seems unaffected by Oklahoma governor's flat budget request