A group of Utah residents who oppose a massive proposed data center project outside Great Salt Lake brought their challenge to state court in an attempt to allow voters to weigh in, after their bid to add a referendum to the November ballot was rejected by the Box Elder County attorney.
The Utah Constitution provides that any law passed by a county’s legislative body can be subject to a referendum, and the Box Elder County Commission’s resolutions related to the data center project have the force of law, according to a complaint filed by a group of residents Wednesday in Utah’s First Judicial District Court. Brenna Williams, the lead plaintiff and a sponsor of the referenda applications, shared the filing with Bloomberg Law Thursday.
Amid “highly controversial and hotly debated policy choices,” county commissioners enacted legislative judgments on consequences that will follow from “the largest data center ever constructed in the state of Utah” and the millions of dollars in public infrastructure funding that will be needed to support that development, the residents claim. Commissioners effectively handed over land governance to an unelected committee and annexed a city-sized territory to another political subdivision of the state, the complaint says.
The data center proposal is backed by businessman and media personality Kevin O’Leary and overseen by the Military Installation Development Authority, a Utah state entity that works with the military and private companies to promote economic development and military initiatives. The data center campus, dubbed the Stratos Project, was originally planned to be 40,000 acres. The Utah Senate said Thursday that O’Leary conceded to demands by state Senate President J. Stuart Adams (R) and committed to shrink the size of the project.
Box Elder County Commissioners gave approval for the project to proceed last month, despite significant opposition from residents. The commission effectively gave up the county’s regulatory authority of the land and delegated it to MIDA, and granted the entity immunity from civil liability related to any environmental contamination of properties within the Stratos project area, according to the complaint.
Residents filed applications for referenda to allow voters to weigh in on the commissioners’ resolutions in November. County attorney Stephen Hadfield rejected the proposals last week, concluding that they weren’t legally referable to voters.
The residents allege that Utah law delegating authority to county attorneys to decide on referability of legislation violates the separation of powers under the state’s Constitution. The impact statements issued by Hadfield—the attorney for the commission—and Box Elder County Budget Director Shirlene Larsen—an employee of the commission—in denying the proposals are also biased, the complaint says. The statements contain an inaccurate and incomplete view of the fiscal and legal consequences of possible outcomes if residents get a chance to vote on the resolutions, the residents allege.
Lynnette Crockett, the public information officer for Box Elder County, said officials hadn’t been formally served yet and will “evaluate the matter and respond as appropriate” when they do.
David Irvine of Bountiful, Utah, and Alan Smith of Salt Lake City represent the residents.
The case is Williams v. The Box Elder Cnty. Comm’n, Utah Dist. Ct., No. 260100091, complaint filed 6/3/26.