Camp Mystic's owners have successfully moved a wrongful death lawsuit filed by six families from Texas state court to federal court, arguing the case is tied to the camp's ongoing bankruptcy.
The move adds another layer of uncertainty to five lawsuits filed by families which accuse camp operators of failing to protect their children during last year's catastrophic flooding in the Texas Hill Country.
In a notice filed Monday, the camp's owners argued the lawsuit is connected to its ongoing Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings and should therefore be handled in federal court. The case, originally filed in Travis County state court, centers on the deaths of six girls at Camp Mystic during the July 2025 flood.
They were among 25 campers and two counselors killed when floodwaters swept through the century-old summer camp for girls near Hunt. Camp owner and executive director Dick Eastland was also killed. More than 130 people died across the Texas Hill Country.
The camp's filing came just two days before a status hearing on the case. Wednesday's hearing was canceled after the case was moved to federal court, according to Kyle Findley, an attorney representing the six families. In a statement, Findley accused Camp Mystic's owners of trying to keep the cases out of a public state courtroom.
"These families aren't asking for anything extraordinary — they're asking for a public trial, in Texas state court, in front of a jury as is their right in this country," Findley said.
Findley pointed to the camp's earlier effort to force some families into private arbitration, which would have moved the disputes out of court and avoided jury trials in five cases scheduled for next year. He also criticized the timing of the camp's bankruptcy filing and its latest move to federal court.
Court records show Camp Mystic's owners are ultimately seeking to move all five lawsuits to federal court. Together, the cases involve 22 sets of plaintiffs.
"First, after facts started being exposed, they demanded secret arbitration to keep the evidence out of the public eye," he said. "Next, they declared bankruptcy days before the anniversary of these girls' tragic deaths, and moments before a ruling on arbitration and sanctions. Now this."
Findley said the families' attorneys plan to ask a federal judge to send the case back to state court.
The lawsuits have been effectively halted since Camp Mystic filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last month. Chapter 11 typically allows a business to reorganize its finances under court supervision, though the camp's managers are also considering selling off its assets.
The bankruptcy filing generally pauses lawsuits against a company while the case moves forward. A judge can modify or lift that stay under certain circumstances.
Angela Littwin, a bankruptcy law professor at the University of Texas at Austin, previously told The Texas Newsroom that cases like these are often resolved through the bankruptcy process instead of returning to separate courtrooms.
"The most common outcome of a bankruptcy like this is that the lawsuits would not pick up, that they would be settled in the bankruptcy," Littwin said last month.
The legal battles are unfolding as Camp Mystic faces growing scrutiny over its emergency planning and response to the flood. A recent investigative report adopted by a state legislative committee found the camp lacked written emergency plans and cited delayed evacuations.
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