New Delhi: An investigation by Oklahoma Watch found that inmates at four Oklahoma state prisons were being made to work in call centres, placing political phone calls for conservative candidates.
The arrangement, confirmed through contracts obtained via open records requests, involves the company HBW Leads operating call centres at James Crabtree Correctional Center in Helena, Mabel Bassett Correctional Center in McLoud, Lexington Correctional Center, and Joseph Harp Correctional Center. The contracts allow “telemarketing and political polling activity”, Oklahoma Watch reported.
As per the report, the company pays the Oklahoma Department of Corrections $10 per hour worked, while the inmates themselves earn $2 per hour, with possible bonuses. The remaining $8 goes to overhead for Oklahoma Correctional Industries.
Inmate Steve Wilbanks, incarcerated at James Crabtree, told Oklahoma Watch reporters he worked in the call centre until about six weeks before a late-July interview.
“I had good numbers,” Wilbanks said. “I was a producer.”
He and other inmates described political calls paid for by Make Liberty Win, a Virginia-based super PAC that seeks to elect conservative lawmakers. According to its mission statement, the committee mobilise voters “to oust RINOs and socialist Democrats alike”.
Federal Election Commission records show the super PAC paid nearly $600,000 to Visible Trends, HBW Leads’ political calling subsidiary, since March for such services—primarily targeting state legislative races.
“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?’”
Inmates noted some scripts involved culture-war language and demeaning references to opposing candidates.
“They definitely know what they’re doing is a no-no,” an anonymous inmate told the reporters. Several described feeling uneasy making partisan calls. Some had been incarcerated so long they were unfamiliar with candidates or terms like “MAGA”.
“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.”
He later left the job partly because of the content.
“It was stuff like you don’t want to have your kids around creepy such and such, or they believe in transgender ideas not protecting your children. It’s like, whoa. That threw me for a loop there.”
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‘Best money in the yard’
Inmates named Oklahoma figures including Gentner Drummond, Mike Mazzei, Jon Echols, Chip Keating, and Justin “JJ” Humphrey in connection with some calls, although most political work reportedly targeted races in other states such as Kentucky, Connecticut, Ohio, and Florida. No Oklahoma candidate or outside group has publicly reported payments to Visible Trends for 2026 cycle work in state ethics filings.
Make Liberty Win executive director Barrett Young said the organisation was unaware Visible Trends used prison labour and terminated the contract due to poor performance. The most recent payment was dated 29 June. HBW Leads and Visible Trends representatives either declined comment or did not respond to inquiries.
The Oklahoma Department of Corrections, too, declined interview requests. In an emailed statement, an agency representative said the calls described by inmates, including advocating for candidates, fall within the contract’s definition of political polling and that the agency regularly reviews call centre material for compliance with department policies.
Oklahoma Watch first reported the story on 24 August 2026. The programme has drawn scrutiny over the use of low-paid prison labour for political advocacy, though one inmate noted the pay was attractive relative to other prison jobs.
“It’s just better money. It’s the best money on the yard.”
(Edited by Prasanna Bachchhav)