The parents of nine children and counselors killed in last year's July 4 flood allege in a federal lawsuit filed Monday that Texas health regulators renewed Camp Mystic's youth camp license without ensuring the Hill Country camp had a legally required evacuation plan.
The suit names six officials with the Texas Department of State Health Services, including Commissioner Jennifer Shuford, and claims the agency ignored state requirements for disaster evacuation planning in the youth camp licensing process.
"Young campers and counselors were killed because the camp had no plan," the lawsuit said.
"The camp is responsible, but so are the state officials who helped create this inexcusable risk to life by directing and executing a policy of non-compliance with Texas law."
A DSHS spokesperson said the agency does not comment on pending litigation.
An attorney for Camp Mystic, which is not named as a defendant in this suit, did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and the complaint says the camp's current license is valid until March 6.
The lawsuit centers on Texas rules that govern youth camps under the Texas Youth Camp Safety and Health Act and related administrative regulations that DSHS administers through its Youth Camp Program.
In the early hours of July 4, torrential rain sent the Guadalupe River surging into Camp Mystic in Hunt, Texas, where the lawsuit says staff evacuated five of 11 cabins in a low-lying area known as the flats while most victims died in two cabins built near the river.
Twenty-seven campers and counselors were killed, and camp owner and Executive Director Dick Eastland died while trying to evacuate a cabin, according to earlier reporting and records released after the flood.
"The DSHS officials responsible for licensing youth camps deliberately looked the other way," families' attorney Paul Yetter said in a written statement.
"While Camp Mystic bears responsibility and is also being sued, state officials knew the camp's emergency plan lacked a required evacuation component and still licensed the camp as safe."
The complaint also cites testimony attributed to Deputy Commissioner Timothy Stevenson that the agency ensured disaster plans existed but did not verify evacuation procedures, which the families argue violated state law.
The lawsuit comes as Texas has moved to tighten camp safety requirements after the Camp Mystic flood, including legislation signed in September that directed DSHS to implement new youth camp standards and emergency planning requirements.
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.