Closures & Restrictions

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) now recommends wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain (e.g., grocery stores and pharmacies), especially in areas of significant community-based transmission. CDC also advises the use of simple cloth face coverings to slow the spread of the virus and help people who may have the virus and do not know it from transmitting it to others.  Cloth face coverings fashioned from household items or made at home from common materials at low cost can be used as an additional, voluntary public health measure. See more on their website here or download these instructions to make your own cloth mask. 



The Governor of Oklahoma has issued orders pertaining to all state residents and businesses. Please visit coronavirus.health.ok.gov or ok.gov to learn more about how these orders may affect you or your business. 

Businesses are encouraged to refer to guidance from the State of Oklahoma available at okcommerce.gov  and consider this guidance from the Pittsburg County Emergency Management Center. See the 918 Pledge here.

  • McAlester's City Hall is open by appointment only except for public meetings. Please call 918-423-9300 to schedule your appointment. 
  • The J.I. Stipe Center at 801 N. 9th Street is open for select programs only. Call 918-421-4922 to ask about available activities. The meals served through the Senior Nutrition Program are distributed through pick-up and delivery services.

  • The McAlester Expo Center on Highway 270 is closed to the public except for events. To learn more, contact 918-420-3976.

  • The Carl Albert Building at 301 E. Carl Albert Parkway is closed to non-essential visitors. Any citizen needing in-person assistance from police or dispatchers should call 918-423-1212 for direction. In case of an emergency, call 911. Anyone needing to make payments to the Municipal Court Office is advised to pay through the mail, online, or by phone at 918-421-4939, if possible.

  • The Utility Payment Window is closed. Anyone needing to make payments to the Utility Billing Office is advised to pay through the mail, online, or by phone at (866) 300-4423  or through payment kiosks located at Pruett’s Grocery at 601 E. Wyandotte Ave. and the Choctaw Nation Travel Plaza at 1640 S. George Nigh Expressway. 

  • The McAlester Recycling Center is now open. The drop-off center will accept mixed paper, cardboard, #1 plastics, #2 plastics, and aluminum cans. Glass, tin cans, and other types of plastics are not accepted at this time. Materials dropped at the center are required to be separated by type and bagged prior to arrival at the site. The drive-through area is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and signage is available to assist citizens with proper recycling. All items are required to be rinsed and free of food residue. Cardboard boxes should be emptied and flattened. Bags of mixed items or containing trash will be discarded and not sorted for recycling.
The McAlester City Council has approved a mandatory face-covering ordinance.  See the ordinance here. 

The McAlester City Council met in a special meeting on Thursday, August 20, 2020, and adopted a mandatory face-covering ordinance for the community that expired on November 30, 2020. See the original ordinance here. 

The McAlester City Council met in an emergency meeting on Tuesday, March 17, 2020, to consider resolutions related to the city’s response to the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic. At the end of the meeting, Mayor John Browne proclaimed a state of emergency for the city. 

  • The city manager is authorized to use the emergency fund to insulate general fund programs to cover revenue shortfalls of revenues and monthly expenditures up to $500,000.

  • The Council temporarily increased the expenditure amount the city manager can authorize from $25,000 to $50,000 before requiring a vote of the city council. The additional spending authorization is set to expire on June 30, 2020.

  • The councilors voted to authorize the city manager to provide relief to utility customers by suspending the 10-day cut off policy for utility services until July 1, 2020.
Read the resolutions.
See the emergency proclamation. 

The City of McAlester has taken several other actions in relation to the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Pandemic in our area. You can see the list below:

Order Proclaiming Existence of a Civil Emergency - March 25, 2020 
Order Proclaiming Existence of a Civil Emergency - March 23, 2020
Order Proclaiming Existence of a Civil Emergency - March 20, 2020

To learn more about precautions related to COVID-19, visit websites for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the Oklahoma State Department of Health.