Camp Mystic families sue Texas officials over evacuation plan enforcement
Families of nine girls killed in the July 4, 2025, flash flood at Camp Mystic have filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against six Texas health officials, alleging regulators failed to enforce mandatory evacuation plan requirements for licensed youth camps.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, Austin Division on Monday, names current and former officials with the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS), including Commissioner Jennifer Shuford, in their individual capacities. The families allege the officials violated the girls’ constitutional rights by licensing and renewing Camp Mystic despite what the complaint describes as noncompliance with state safety rules.
Twenty-seven campers and counselors died when floodwaters surged through the historic Hill Country camp along the Guadalupe River in Texas’ flood-prone "Flash Flood Alley." Camp owner and Executive Director Dick Eastland also died while attempting to evacuate one of the cabins during the flooding, according to prior reports.
In addition to the civil rights argument, the lawsuit advances two Fourteenth Amendment substantive due process claims: a "state-created danger" theory and a bodily integrity claim. The families are also seeking damages under the Texas wrongful death and survival statutes through the federal action.
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Camp Mystic is not named as a defendant in this particular lawsuit, though it is facing separate legal action related to the flooding.
According to the complaint, Texas regulations require licensed youth camps to maintain a written disaster plan including procedures for the evacuation of each occupied building, with the plan posted in cabins and staff trained on it. The rule is described in the filing as mandatory rather than discretionary.
The lawsuit alleges DSHS adopted a longstanding internal practice of verifying only that a camp had some form of "emergency plan," without confirming that the plan included evacuation procedures for each building.
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Camp Mystic’s written flood instructions, cited in the complaint, told campers and counselors to "stay in cabins unless told otherwise." Plaintiffs characterize that language as a "stay put" policy inconsistent with state evacuation requirements.
The complaint alleges that inspector Maricela Torres Zamarripa conducted annual inspections of Camp Mystic from at least 2015 through 2025. It highlights a July 5, 2024, inspection report that found "no deficiency" and alleges DSHS renewed the camp’s license for the following year based on that inspection. The camp’s current license is valid until March 6, according to the suit.
The filing further alleges that Zamarripa visited the camp again on July 2, 2025 — two days before the flood — and that an inspection report dated July 6, 2025, also recorded "no deficiency," even after the disaster.
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According to the complaint, heavy rainfall began July 3, 2025, and a "life-threatening" flash flood warning was received by 1:14 a.m. on July 4. The lawsuit states that camp leadership initially instructed girls to remain in their cabins in accordance with the written policy.
The families allege that staff evacuated five of 11 cabins in an area known as "the flats," a low-lying section near the river, while six cabins were not evacuated. The complaint states that most of the girls who died were housed in two cabins in that area. Evacuation efforts are described in the filing as chaotic and improvised.
Under their "state-created danger" claim, the families allege regulators created or worsened the risk by licensing and renewing the camp despite alleged regulatory violations, thereby giving parents what the complaint describes as a false sense of security.
Under the bodily integrity claim, plaintiffs argue that by licensing the camp and allegedly failing to enforce evacuation requirements, state officials effectively approved a setup that placed the girls in cabins without required evacuation protections.
The case raises broader legal questions about whether regulatory non-enforcement can amount to a constitutional violation and how qualified immunity protections may apply.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Texas Department of State Health Services and an attorney for the families, but neither immediately responded.
In the wake of the disaster, Texas lawmakers passed new legislation requiring camps to specify evacuation destinations, post evacuation routes inside cabins and ensure those routes are illuminated at night.