MCALESTER, Okla. — After a House and Senate bill to pay for repairs and improvements to the prison rodeo grounds at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester last session, corrections officials are prepping to show lawmakers again why the community wants it — and how the money brought in will outweigh the cost.
Last fall, 2 News visited the dilapidated prison rodeo grounds. Murals painted by the inmates are fading and the arena is overgrown with weeks. The rodeo shut down in 1990, at the time, citing budget cuts.
McAlester leaders and corrections officials met with lawmakers this month for an interim study to potentially ask for funding again.
“It is an extremely popular topic,” said McAlester Mayor John Browne. “I have not heard one bad word about it—it’s more they would much like to see it going again.”
DOC Director Steven Harpe says it encourages inmates to behave because they have to earn the right to participate in the rodeo. He also tried to quell concerns heard during last legislative session that it sounds barbaric.
“This is not two men fighting to the death,” he explained. “These are two men competed in a sport that is acknowledged by the rest of the United States.”
When 2 News first started covering this story, hundreds of comments came in on social media—many praising the rodeo and sharing memories. One of them was Brandi Walters. She is a stay-at-home mom in Claremore who grew up in McAlester.
“I just remember all of the excitement, all of the people, the concessions, the performances,” she said. “Everyone had something to do that weekend and it was to go to the prison rodeo.”
Not only did Walters go, but she was also in the parade and part of the grand entry. You could say she lived it—because, she lived on prison property. Both of her parents were on staff at the prison, so Walters had a front row seat to the rodeo every time.
Her mom worked in the infirmary and her step-dad worked in the death row unit. She remembers her step-dad helping pick out the matching Wranglers, boots and hats for the inmates to wear at the rodeo.
She says she never felt unsafe at the rodeo.
“The inmates were behind a chain link fence with barbed wire around it,” she said.
With the rodeo being gone since 2009, Walters says it may feel like a foreign concept to some. All she has are fond memories of community and fun.
She loved watching the fearless inmates in events like “The Tub Ride”—riding a bucking bronco while inmates sit in a washtub filled with flour.
“It was so much fun and flour would go everywhere,” she laughed. “It was so weird, but it was so fun.”
Prison officials are convinced that flying flour will bring in the dough.
Compared to other prison rodeos, they roughly estimate a $2 million profit in the first year between vendors and ticket sales, costing only $27,000.
The DOC is hoping, if they can convince lawmakers to fund repairs, the 10,000-seat arena would host three 2-day events per year—one in the spring and two in the fall.
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