On October 27, 2026, the Pulaski County Quorum Court voted 10 to 4 to override the county judge’s veto of Ordinance 26-OR-19, the county’s new rules for high intensity digital infrastructure uses. KATV The Quorum Court is the county’s elected legislative body, and the county judge is its chief executive. Two days later, the company behind a planned AI data center campus near Wrightsville sued the county in federal court. Arkansas Advocate The plaintiff, ADP Little Rock Data Hub LLC, is an affiliate of AVAIO Digital. It asks the court to block the ordinance and award damages.
What did Pulaski County pass?
The ordinance requires a conditional use permit before a covered facility is built or operated outside city limits. A conditional use permit is a site specific approval the county Planning Board grants only after a public hearing and written findings. The law covers what it calls high intensity digital infrastructure uses. These are facilities used mainly for computing that draw 10 megawatts or more, devote 100,000 square feet to computing, or use 100,000 gallons of water a day. A megawatt is a unit of electric power. Hospitals, factories and ordinary offices are excluded when computing is only a side use. A clause in the ordinance made it take effect immediately. Complaint and exhibits
| Rule | Before the ordinance | After the ordinance |
|---|---|---|
| Approval needed | No rule specific to these facilities | Conditional use permit after a Planning Board hearing |
| Land use class | No rule specific to these facilities | Heavy industrial use |
| Distance from homes | No rule specific to these facilities | 500 feet for buildings, cooling units and generators |
| Noise | No rule specific to these facilities | 65 decibels by day and 55 at night |
| Fees | No rule specific to these facilities | $25,000 application fee plus a $100,000 review deposit |
| Closing the site | No rule specific to these facilities | Cleanup plan backed by money covering the full estimated cost |
Does the ordinance reach AVAIO’s project?
The ordinance spares a project that obtained every final county approval before it took effect, but only within the scope of those approvals. A filed site plan, a conditional approval, a utility agreement or money already spent does not by itself qualify. The county Planning Director decides whether a project holds every final approval. The director may not decide whether a project has a vested right, which is a right under Arkansas law to finish a project under the rules that applied when it began.
AVAIO says it received final site plan approval from the county planning department on August 11, 2026. KATV The company also says it holds a binding contract with Entergy Arkansas for up to 150 megawatts and has already spent tens of millions of dollars. Arkansas Times
The county judge’s veto warned that a substantially advanced project could face new rules while the question of its protected rights stayed unresolved. Arkansas Times The former judge who drafted the ordinance takes the other side. He told KATV that under Arkansas law, site plan approval, clearing land and spending money do not by themselves create vested rights. KATV
Why AVAIO says federal law blocks the rules
AVAIO’s main federal claim involves the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, the federal agency that regulates interstate power transmission. The company says the ordinance’s demand for electrical load studies and its test for adequate power infrastructure intrude on FERC’s exclusive authority. The ordinance itself says it does not regulate utility rates, tariffs or service contracts. AVAIO relies on a June 18, 2026 FERC order about connecting large power users to the grid. That same order, attached to the complaint, says states keep authority over siting decisions and construction for large load projects. Complaint and exhibits
AVAIO also says the county singled out its project. The company argues that excluding hospitals, factories and offices leaves out other large users of power and water for no rational reason. It says that breaks the Constitution’s promise that government treat similar parties alike. It adds claims that the rules are too vague, impair its Entergy contract and take its property without payment. Complaint and exhibits It brings these claims under a federal civil rights law that lets a person sue a local government for violating federal rights.
The claim about private messages among officials
AVAIO’s state law claim says Quorum Court members and the ordinance’s drafter discussed the ordinance in private texts, calls and emails. Arkansas’s Freedom of Information Act requires that kind of discussion to happen in a public meeting. AVAIO asks the court to void the ordinance on that ground. Arkansas Advocate The drafter answered that a private citizen who talks to legislators about a proposed law is exercising First Amendment rights. AVAIO separately asks the court to order the county to produce records the company requested on October 19, 2026.
The next issue covers the Kentucky incentive board’s new requirements for data center tax breaks.
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