AUSTIN — Texas lawmakers investigating catastrophic floods last summer expressed open hostility to the idea that the owners of the camp where 27 girls and counselors died would try to reopen this summer. But they acknowledged that they might not have the power to prevent it.
“There’s a point where the consequences of not doing your job is so significant, so consequential, that you don’t have the privilege of running a business,” Sen. Charles Perry (R), vice chair of the state Senate committee investigating the deadly floods over July 4, said to members of the Eastland family, who own Camp Mystic. “What deterrent does that send to other [camp] operators that I can have kids die on my watch and still be an operator?”
Perry said Camp Mystic, which has applied for a state license to reopen on May 30, should remain closed.
“Legally, y’all probably get to stay in existence this summer,” Perry said, but “whatever rules we have to devise, y’all will not be a [camp] operator next season if I have anything to say,” he said, referring to the 2027 season. “Because y’all just missed it. There needs to be a certain finality to it. And leaving you to be an operator just isn’t it.”
Another committee member, state Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, a Republican, expressed shock that camp officials still had not reported the deaths of the 25 girls and two counselors to the state.
“Think this through: Are you ready to take on 500-plus children with so many deficiencies and something so glaring as you have not reported the deaths that are required by law?” Kolkhorst said.
Britt Eastland, one of the camp directors and son of Dick Eastland, 70, who was killed in the floods, said: “We pray we can reconcile with these families” and that “years from now they will be glad that we had camp this summer.”
“What?” exclaimed CiCi Steward, whose 8-year-old daughter Cile died in the flood and has never been found. Steward walked out, while her husband Will Steward remained seated in the back row, stone-faced. The Stewards have filed suit against the camp. Recently, they won a temporary injunction requiring the Eastlands to preserve evidence in parts of the camp affected by the flooding of the Guadalupe River. The injunction allowed the Eastlands to reopen the Cypress Lake part of camp, that is farther from the river and where no girls died.
An attorney and former judge investigating the disaster for the committee on Monday outlined camp officials’ failure to prepare for emergencies and evacuate swiftly despite ample flood warnings, leaving untrained young counselors to rescue the youngest campers. Earlier this month, the pair escorted members of the committee on a tour of the camp, indicating missed opportunities to save the girls leading up to and during the flood.
State regulators are investigating more than 600 complaints against the camp, some filed by parents of the girls who died in the flood, who have called on the state to bar the camp from reopening.
Last week, state regulators at the Department of State Health Services notified camp officials that their application’s emergency plan lacked vital information, including a detailed evacuation plan. The owners have 45 days to fix it, according to DSHS.
The Eastland family is being investigated by the Texas Rangers and faces civil lawsuitsfiled by parents of those who died. It’s not clear how that could impact their ability to reopen. If state regulators deny the license renewal, a spokesman for Camp Mystic has said the Eastlands plan to appeal administratively and that the camp would be allowed to remain open while the appeal is pending, potentially for the whole summer season.
Lara Anton, a spokeswoman for DSHS, confirmed that previously licensed camp officials are entitled to appeal denials and can remain open while they’re pending, but said it wasn’t clear how long the process would take.
The first of several sessions at Camp Mystic is scheduled to start May 30, with counselors reporting days earlier. The owners plan to hold six 10-day sessions, with an estimated gross revenue of $3 million to $4 million, Britt Eastland said.
At Tuesday’s hearing, the Eastland family appeared divided about whether they would reopen if the state denied their license.
“If they were to find you deficient and not issue a license are you all going to aggressively pursue the time frame and the appeal process for the next year and put everybody back through this?” Perry asked.
“We will probably appeal it, but we will not have camp. We will not open Cypress,” Richard Eastland Jr. said, referring to Cypress Lake.
But a third brother, Britt Eastland, added, “We plan to correct all of the deficiencies, so by law we should be able to get a license.”
State Rep. Joe Moody (D), vice chair of the House committee investigating the floods, clarified: Will they open in 2026 if they are not licensed?
“It will be a family decision,” Britt Eastland said. “We cannot say anything on the record what we will do.”
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) has posted on X in recent weeks that Camp Mystic should not be allowed to reopen amid the Texas Rangers’ ongoing criminal investigation. But Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who could issue an executive order or call the legislature back for a special session to address the issue, has not spoken on the issue. A spokesman did not respond to a request for comment this week.
Sen. José Menéndez, a San Antonio Democrat serving on the committee, said it’s too soon for the camp to reopen.
”It’s very insensitive,” he said. “I’m not sure there’s been proper closure. I know there’s not been closure for the families.”
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