Oklahoma Prisoners Operate Political and Insurance Call Centers From Behind Bars in Unusual Labour Arrangement

Oklahoma inmates have been working in prison call centres, making insurance and political calls.

Steve Wilbanks, an inmate at the James Crabtree Correctional Centre in Helena, said he worked at one of the facilities until around six weeks before speaking to reporters by phone in late July. His duties included making calls for insurance companies seeking customers from competitors, as well as political calls during primary elections.

Contracts obtained through an open records request show that HBW Leads and the Oklahoma Department of Corrections have established call centres at four prisons since January. The facilities are at James Crabtree, Mabel Bassett in McLoud, Lexington Correctional and Joseph Harp.

The agreements allow 'telemarketing and political polling activity'. HBW Leads pays the Department of Corrections $10 (£7.30) for every inmate hour worked, while prisoners receive $2 (£1.50) per hour, with bonuses potentially available for generating leads or completing surveys.

Inmates Describe Political Calls as Campaigning

Several inmates interviewed by reporters expressed concerns about the nature of some political calls. One prisoner, who requested anonymity over fears of retaliation, said: 'They definitely know what they're doing is a no-no.'

Wilbanks said some calls appeared to resemble push-polling, where callers present themselves as conducting surveys while attempting to influence voters. He also said some calls were paid for by Make Liberty Win, a Virginia-based super PAC supporting conservative candidates.

'They weren't surveys at all, they were campaigning,' Wilbanks said. 'They just had one question at the end of the call: 'Do we have your vote for such and such?''

Other inmates said they were uncomfortable making partisan calls and struggled to understand political references after spending years behind bars.

'We were talking about the swamp and everything like that,' Wilbanks said. 'I don't even know what a swamp is. I've been in prison too long to catch up on some of these terms.'

The Oklahoma Department of Corrections declined multiple interview requests but said in a statement that calls involving advocacy for candidates fall within the contracts' definition of political polling. The agency also said it regularly reviews call-centre material for compliance with state and federal law.

Not the First Time

The latest programme is not Oklahoma's first attempt to operate prison call centres. In 2019, The Intercept reported that Mike Bloomberg's presidential campaign had indirectly paid a vendor operating a call centre at Eddie Warrior Correctional Centre. Bloomberg's campaign said it had not known prison labour was being used and ended its relationship with the vendor.

The programme faced an even greater setback in 2021, when an inmate at James Crabtree used unrestricted internet access through his call-centre job to download child sexual abuse material. He received two additional life sentences.

Prison call centres were subsequently suspended, although the programme was never permanently abolished. Officials said in 2023 that new safeguards had been introduced and that they were considering restarting the initiative.

With the centres now operating again, scrutiny is likely to focus on whether Oklahoma's safeguards are sufficient, and whether incarcerated workers should be involved in political outreach that can directly influence voters.