{"id":241307,"date":"2026-04-09T02:06:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T02:06:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/241307\/"},"modified":"2026-04-09T02:06:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T02:06:07","slug":"19-texas-camps-sue-state-over-fiber-optic-internet-rules-imposed-after-deadly-floods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/241307\/","title":{"rendered":"19 Texas camps sue state over fiber optic internet rules imposed after deadly floods"},"content":{"rendered":"

AUSTIN (KXAN)\u00a0\u2014 A group of Texas<\/a> youth camp operators has filed suit against state officials, challenging a new law requiring camps to install \u201cend-to-end fiber optic\u201d internet as a condition of licensing, calling the mandate unconstitutional and financially unworkable.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit, filed in Travis County district court, names the Texas Department of State Health Services, the Health and Human Services Commission and Attorney General Ken Paxton, among others.<\/p>\n

Family of flood victim back in court as Camp Mystic applies for state license to reopen <\/a><\/p>\n

The camps argue the requirement\u2014enacted as part of post-flood safety<\/a> legislation following a deadly 2025 Hill Country disaster\u2014would effectively shut down many operations because fiber infrastructure is unavailable or prohibitively expensive in rural areas.<\/p>\n

Plaintiffs said they serve more than 40,000 campers annually and could be forced to close if unable to comply. They contend the law is vague, citing the lack of a clear definition for \u201cend-to-end\u201d fiber, and argue it violates the Texas Constitution by infringing on property rights and economic liberty.<\/p>\n

The suit also alleges<\/a> regulators failed to conduct a required \u201ctakings impact assessment\u201d before adopting related rules, which plaintiffs claim renders the regulation invalid under state law.<\/p>\n

While the camps do not oppose other safety measures in the legislation, they argue the fiber mandate does not improve safety and imposes excessive costs, with some estimates exceeding $1 million for installation.<\/p>\n

The plaintiffs are seeking a court order blocking enforcement of the requirement ahead of the 2026 summer camp season.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AUSTIN (KXAN)\u00a0\u2014 A group of Texas youth camp operators has filed suit against state officials, challenging a new…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":241308,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[92497,17347,1967,11484,27,29,28,92498],"class_list":["post-241307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-fiber-infrastructure","tag-health-and-human-services-commission","tag-ken-paxton","tag-state-officials","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news","tag-travis-county-district-court"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=241307"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241307\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/241308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=241307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=241307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=241307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}