On a Wednesday edition of Mobile radio FM Talk 106.5's "The Jeff Poor Show," State Rep. David Faulkner (R-Mountain Brook) spoke about legislation increasing safety regulations and emergency preparedness at Alabama's summer camps.
Introduced and sponsored by Faulkner, the Sarah Marsh Heaven's 27 Camp Safety Act passed the Alabama House in February. According to the lawmaker, the bill is named after a young girl from his district and 26 others who passed after flooding hit a camp in Texas on July 4, 2025.
"Sarah Marsh is the daughter of Patrick and Jill Marsh," said Faulkner. "They dropped her off at the end of June last year, and then on July 4, she tragically lost her life, along with 26 other girls. And that's Heaven's 27."
"What we've realized from that, and what I did not know, is that we really don't have any regulations or laws on our camps. We have the Department of Public Health that goes out and does certifications, but that's not dealing with emergency preparedness and safety when you drop your child off at camp," he explained. "I think most of us expect that there are laws in place that require those camps to have safety training, to have safety communication, safety measures and background checks being done. Frankly, that's not the case at most camps."
Faulkner noted Alabama is home to some of the best camps in the country, while stressing that the new requirements will not be of large expense to camps.
"Let me say this loud and clear. We have great camps in the state of Alabama, great summer camps," Faulkner said. "I went to a summer camp in Alabama. My children went to summer camp. My sisters went to summer camp. My nieces and nephews have gone to summer camps in Alabama. We have some of the finest camps in the country, right here in Alabama. Most of those camps are doing the things in this bill right now. If you're a good camp, they're doing these things."
"This is not putting some big expense on camps," he continued. "This is not putting heavy burdens on camps. What this is doing is putting in a law that will require them to get an emergency preparedness license. The EMA will issue that license after reviewing their emergency plans, making sure they're doing background checks, those types of things."
Faulkner added, "I'm very excited about it. It honors Sarah's legacy and the other young girls. I'm appreciative of the governor's support, the speaker's support, the pro tem and the lieutenant governor's."
The legislation would require camps with residential facilities to obtain an emergency preparedness license from the Alabama Emergency Management Agency as a condition of operation, demonstrating that certain requirements are met. These include requirements for hiring staff members, effective means of communication between staff members and campers in the event of an emergency, flood safety, sheltering, and emergency and evacuation plans.
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