Buford Pusser agreed to portray himself in this film but, hours after signing the contract, he was killed when his car ran off the road near his home in Adamsville, Tennessee. Some locals believe his car was sabotaged in retribution for his stamping out the illegal activities of the stateline mob on the Tennessee-Mississippi border.
After the real-life Buford Pusser, who had agreed to portray himself in this film, was tragically killed in a car crash before production began, Joe Don Baker refused to reprise the Pusser role. Baker had become good friends with Pusser and his daughter during filming of the original "Walking Tall" and out of respect for his family, decided to not play Buford again in the sequels.
Joe Don Baker was originally expected to reprise the role of Buford Pusser before Bo Svenson was cast in the role.
Bo Svenson was the original choice of the real-life Buford Pusser to play him in the first Walking Tall film, but he was unavailable due to other film commitments at that time.
Robert DoQui replaced Felton Perry as Obra Eaker in this film. Both actors would go on to appear in RoboCop (1987), RoboCop 2 (1990), and RoboCop 3 (1993).