TEXARKANA — A federal judge says that lawsuits over the deadly flash flooding at the Albert Pike campground in 2010 should be heard in Texarkana.
U.S. District Judge Donald Walter signed an order last week transferring two cases from Shreveport, La., into the Texarkana division of the Western District of Arkansas.
Several civil lawsuits have been filed by relatives of the 20 people killed in the flash floods. The suits all cite negligence on the part of the U.S. Forest Service as the cause for the deaths.
The Texarkana Gazette reports that the government has filed motions to dismiss many of the cases, claiming the suits are barred under Arkansas’ recreational use statute and by sovereign immunity.