AR-News: Urgency to Enforce Cockfight Ban to Vary

[Political Animal]

Urgency on enforcing cockfighting ban to vary 
By RHETT MORGAN World Staff Writer 
4/2/2004 

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A sampling of responses from sheriffs and their
deputies show they plan to ease into enforcement of a
state cockfighting ban upheld this week by the
Oklahoma Supreme Court. 

Bryan County Sheriff Bill Sturch said he would give
residents a 20-day "grace period" to educate
themselves on the law, which makes it a felony to put
birds into fights or raise them for fighting. 

Other jurisdictions, such as Creek County, plan to
jump into enforcement as soon as they feel comfortable
with the statute. 

"We will aggressively enforce it," said Mike O'Keefe,
the chief deputy of the Creek County Sheriff's Office.
"We're not going to look the other way. If the law
changes, we will abide by it." 

Sturch said he intended to help get the word out to
gamecock breeders through newspaper, radio and
television messages. 

Bryan County, which borders the Red River, is one of
several Oklahoma counties known 


 
 
 
for the bloodsport. 

"I don't go to chicken fights and don't know much
about them," Sturch said. "We've not had a lot of
problems with the guys in this area. But once the law
is passed and they can't do it, then we'll let them
know that this is the way it is." 

The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that a
statewide cockfighting ban, approved by voters in
November 2002, is constitutional. 

Cockfighting proponents had challenged the ban, State
Question 687, on the grounds that it was
unconstitutionally vague and deprived people involved
in cockfighting of their property without
compensation. 

The justices said unanimously that there was a
"pressing need" to decide the case because temporary
restraining orders issued in district courts around
the state had "made it impossible for law enforcement
officials in over 25 counties to carry out their
duties under the act." 

In general, the law bans cockfighting and related
activities, outlaws being a knowing spectator at a
cockfighting event and sets criminal penalties for
violating its terms. 

A spectator at a cockfight may be guilty of a
misdemeanor under the law. 

Sturch said a gamecock breeder called him Thursday
about the legality of having a cockfight derby this
weekend. 

"We're not going to go out there with guns and
whatever," Sturch said. "I think we can handle it in a
peaceful manner and make the transition. I don't
expect we'll have any problem." 

Cockfighting has been prominent in the Kellyville area
of Creek County. 

The county also was the site of several dogfight
arrests in November 2002. A Kellyville man and his
wife, as well as a Broken Arrow man, received deferred
sentences two months ago for encouraging a dogfight. 

"It's going to put a little more strain on us,"
O'Keefe said of the cockfighting statute. "But so far
we know where are those places. We are going to be on
the lookout for any new, clandestine cockfighting
rings that may pop up. 

"There are some good, honest people who have operated
inside the law at these events. Now that it's illegal,
we're going to treat it as such." 

Cockfighting isn't a problem in Tulsa County, although
some residents are known to raise them for fighting,
said Brian Edwards, the chief deputy in the Tulsa
County Sheriff's Office. 

"The problem is, how are you going to prove that
(intent)," he said. "We haven't crossed that bridge
yet. 

"But if people think they have a complaint, we will be
happy to investigate it." 

The Mid-America Game Club near Muldrow in Sequoyah
County traditionally has been one of the busiest in
the state. 

District Attorney Richard Gray oversees prosecution in
Adair, Sequoyah, Wagoner and Cherokee counties. He
received the court's opinion in the mail Thursday but
hasn't had time to go over it, he said. 

"I would think we would fully investigate those
matters," Gray said. "We'll just put them in the
hopper. If prosecutors are doing 20 (cases), they
might as well be doing 21." 

Love County is home to the Red River Game Club, which
has 960 seats, more than any other cockfighting site
in Oklahoma. The arena's land was sold last year. 

Love County Undersheriff Rodney Richards said law
enforcement officials in that area will confer on "how
they are going to attack" the law. 

The office has only six full-time deputies to patrol
more than 600 square miles of county, but the number
of cockfighting operations has been decreasing for a
year or so, he said. 

"We'll follow suit with what other counties are going
to do," he said. "With us being in the rural area
we're in, manpower, budgeting and those kind of things
just eat us up with the meth problem being what it is
now." 


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rhett Morgan 581-8395 
rhett.morgan at tulsaworld.com 

 



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