Alabama Passes Camp Safety Act

0:00Families and child safety advocates gathered at the Alabama State House in Montgomery on March 31, 2026, pushing for the Sarah. Marsh Heaven's 27 Camp Safety Act. This came after an eight-year-old girl from Alabama died in a deadly flash flood at a Texas summer camp. That same day, the State Senate passed House Bill 381 with support from both parties creating Alabama's first emergency preparedness, license for overnight camps. The tragedy hit on July 4, 2025, at Camp Mystic in Texas, where 27 girls lost their lives. Sarah Marsh, for Mountain Brook, was one of them. Organizers from the Alabama Campaign for Camp Safety highlighted how the State had no uniform rules for camps before this, leading to spotty safety. Measures across facilities. Parents, Patrick and Jill Marsh, along with Representative David Faulkner, for Mountain Brook, spoke at the rally on the State House steps. They stressed the need to honor the girls by fixing gaps in camp protections.

1:01Faulkner noted Alabama's top-notch camps deserve consistent standards that many folks wrongly assumed already existed. The new law requires overnight camps to develop approved emergency plans, including severe weather and flood protocols, national oceanic and atmospheric administration, all hazards monitoring, solid communication systems, staff background checks, and yearly training. This bipartisan win sets a stronger safety baseline for kids at camps statewide, ensuring tragedies like the one at Camp Mystic push real change. Forward. You've been listening to Birmingham News today, AI-powered local news.