Could the Oklahoma prison rodeo return?

(The Center Square) - For nearly 69 years, spectators poured into McAlester, Oklahoma to watch state inmates rope and sometimes ride at the state prison.

That tradition could be coming back to the Sooner State and, with it, potentially millions of dollars in future revenue.

But first, Oklahoma legislators would have to approve the money needed to revitalize the former arena in McAlester. The damage to the buildings led to the shutdown of the traditional event in 2009.

"The price tag on this, that we briefed last year, was $8.3 million, which is in the grand scheme of the budget of the state of Oklahoma, is really a drop in the bucket," said Sen. Warren Hamilton, R-McCurtain, one of the sponsors of a bill discussed in the 2024 legislative session.

House Bill 3749 passed the House but failed in the Senate.

The Department of Corrections presented a plan to a Senate Judiciary study committee on Tuesday that would include events in the fall and spring. The department reached out to Louisiana officials, the only state that hosts a prison rodeo, which is held every October in Angola.

The potential costs of transporting inmates from other prisons, housing correctional officers in a hotel for one night, and overtime pay are estimated at just over $27,000 per event.

But the revenue from the rodeo could be close to $1.28 million for two events in the fall and one in the spring, according to information from the DOC. That includes money from admissions and concessions. About 35 to 40 booths would be available for vendors to rent.

Inmates could also sell their arts and crafts and pocket the proceeds from the sales.

DOC Executive Director Steven Harpe said it would be up to lawmakers to decide how to spend the revenues.

"Ultimately, I would want them to go into education and training for our inmates," Harpe told the committee. "Potentially, if it was going to be used for our employees, I would want to use it in areas of being able to provide raises or create some type of a fund for performance management, things of that nature."

Some lawmakers raised concerns about inmate safety during debate on the bill during the session. Rodeo events are a competitive sport "acknowledged by the rest of the U.S.," Harpe said.

"We're going to look at the PBR (Professional Bull Riders), we're going to look at the professionals," Harpe told the committee. "We're going to look at the ones who do this for a living and take lots of advice from them as well about how we should structure this and structure it the safest way possible."

Harpe said there should be plenty of participants if it is approved.

"There's a lot of prisoners that want to take a shot at it," Harpe said.