A Statement regarding the Real Deal Family Reunion

The recent mass gathering held in the Nechanitz area violated both the Texas Department of State Health Service’s regulations and the county’s permitting process according to county officials.

“After last year’s gathering, the County implemented a mass gathering permit process to ensure that future events operated in a safe manner. The County Judge’s Office, Sheriff’s Office, EMS department, and the consumer health protection manager for the Texas Department of State Health Services Region 7 worked with the promoters of the Real Deal Family Reunion to explain the requirements of the mass gathering statue and health and safety codes. The whole purpose of working with the group was to have a safe and successful event,” said Angela Hahn, Fayette County emergency management coordinator.

“It was a good faith effort on the part of the County. Unfortunately, the event organizers failed to comply with the regulations and so the sheriff’s department shut it down. It’s important to note that the trail ride – while organized by the same group – was not part of the mass gathering. The County doesn’t have any legal authority to prohibit trail rides – in fact they are a regular occurrence,” she added.

EMS Director Josh Vandever stated, “While the county had the authority to mass gathering permit, we did not have a legal or ethical basis to support doing so. While my input was limited to the Emergency Medical Services aspect of the event, I was made to believe that the organizers were going to make a good faith effort to deliver on the things they promised. I’m sad to have seen that they did not. It’s my belief based on all of the things I personally witnessed in the late-night hours of the 27th and early morning of the 28th, that the organizers are incapable of providing a safe environment for this event and I don’t believe that I will ever be able to support the approval of a permit for this group in good conscience, again.”

Both County Judge Dan Mueller and Sheriff Keith Korenek agreed with Vandever.

“Once it became clear that the organizers exceeded the scope of the permit, we shut it down. However, due to the size of the crowd, it took several hours to clear the grounds. I can’t support the approval of a permit for the Real Deal Family Reunion again. My officers did a great job handling this situation,” said the Sheriff.

“It was very disheartening to hear what happened last weekend. The County accepted the permit request and the County operated in good faith. The land owner and the organizers totally disregarded our instructions." said Mueller.

Enclosing Angela Hahn said, “The county staff would encourage Fayette County citizens affected by this event to reach out to their state law makers to give counties more power to regulate events such as this in the future as the county is very limited in what it can and cannot regulate in matters such as these.”