The data center fight in Fayette County, Indiana
As of October 1, 2026, Fayette County, Indiana has a data center moratorium in force (action taken May 18, 2026; documented end date 2027-05-18).
Status is derived, not stored — a pause with a documented end date flips to Expired on its own — and the source is right next to the claim.
Status today
Commissioners approved the ordinance May 5, 2026, effective May 18, contingent on the City of Connersville adopting the same measure (the county and city share an Area Plan Commission) at its own May 18 meeting. Economic-development CEO Brad Colter told commissioners there was no data-center deal, NDA or discussion in place for the county, and backed the pause so the APC could commission an impact study and draft zoning standards; Commissioner Dale Strong said it "will give the Planning Commission time to develop appropriate zoning regulations." Preemptive — no local data-center policy existed before this
SourceNews
read 2026-09-02
An expiry date is the earliest a pause could have ended — extensions are common, so confirm with the clerk before citing it.
Recent news
12 stories tracked since 2021-10-27 across 5 outlets. 10× A community is pushing back on a nearby data center. 1× The dispute has escalated into litigation. Most recent: “'They've lost everything' | Federal aid coming to Connersville as over 1,000 flood victims continue recovery” (WCPO 9 News, 2026-08-26).
- 'They've lost everything' | Federal aid coming to Connersville as over 1,000 flood victims continue recovery
- Data center bans could invite lawsuits
- City, county leaders to hear about data centers
- Nearly a third of Indiana counties have moved to restrict data centers
- Connersville manufacturer Forge Racks & Dunnage acquired
- Commissioners put the brakes on data centers
- County to considers moratorium on data centers
- 2 commissions discuss data centers
- Data centers: County open to talks
- Looking back: Sudoku game known worldwide developed by Connersville's Howard Garns
- Connersville parents charged with battery of infant
- Connersville High School Class of 1966
Automated news aggregation, not human-verified — follow each link to the original outlet. Part of the story tracker, 12 headlines archived.
Where the decision gets made
Fayette County Board of Commissioners — The three-member elected Board of Commissioners passed the data-center moratorium ordinance (May 5, 2026) and must approve any permanent zoning policy the Area Plan Commission (APC) develops before it takes effect. The APC (which the county shares with the City of Connersville) is developing the permanent framework with a hired consultant and holds public hearings on zoning matters; a steering committee to guide data-center-specific policy had not yet been formed as of July 29, 2026.
Meets: 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of each month at 2:00 p.m. (Commissioners). Area Plan Commission/BZA meets separately on its own published schedule (see agenda PDFs at co.fayette.in.us).
Where: Fayette County Courthouse, 1st Floor, 401 North Central Avenue, Connersville, IN 47331
Public comment: No formally documented public-comment procedure found on the county site; the Area Plan Commission held a public hearing on the moratorium on April 23, 2026, and a public forum on the decision-making framework was held at Connersville City Hall (livestreamed on CTV3) in July 2026. Area Planning Commission business (agendas at https://co.fayette.in.us/area-planning/) is where zoning-framework hearings will be posted.
dmunson@co.fayette.in.us · (765) 222-1624 · website
Read from the official page on 2026-09-02. Meeting details change — confirm before you go.
Who votes on it
| Name | Role | Phone | Recorded stance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dale Munson | Commissioner, President | dmunson@co.fayette.in.us | (765) 222-1624 | not recorded |
| Tracie Bever | Commissioner, Vice President | tbever@co.fayette.in.us | (765) 222-1624 | not recorded |
| Dale Strong | Commissioner | dstrong@co.fayette.in.us | (765) 222-1624 | Voted for and publicly backed the May 2026 moratorium: 'Yes, we did agree to a one-year moratorium on data centers to give the area plan commission time to develop appropriate zoning regulations.' As commission president in November 2025 he also made unanimous a separate, non-binding resolution stating the county was 'not against' data centers, saying 'We are dealing with the economic currency of the future.' |
| Bill MacDaniel | Area Planning Executive Director (staff, non-elected) | bmacdaniel@co.fayette.in.us | 765-825-9808 | Leading development of the county's data-center zoning framework; said 'We just have to prepare to protect the citizens of Fayette County and Connersville.' Announced he is retiring at the end of December 2026, which is why the county hired an outside planning consultant to help finish the framework. |
| Deron Price | Area Plan Commission Chairman | — | — | Said the county learned from past CAFO and solar-energy ordinance fights that an outright ban on a category of development 'invited lawsuits,' favoring a rules-based approach over a blanket data-center ban. |
From the locality's own roster page; "not recorded" means no public statement is on file, not neutrality.
What to do next
- Questions to ask at the hearing — force specific answers onto the record.
- Estimate the impact — electricity, water, and rate pressure for any facility size in Indiana.
- Model CBA clauses — copy-paste language communities have actually won.
- Indiana briefing — rates, grid carbon, PUC contacts, and every fight in the state.
Nearby in Indiana
- Dearborn County (36 mi) — Enactedexpires 2027-02-25
- Indianapolis (Marion County) (53 mi) — Enactedexpires 2027-12-31
- Grant County (65 mi) — Enactedexpires 2028-03-16
- Boone County (74 mi) — Enactedexpires 2027-06-15
- Howard County (77 mi) — Enactedexpires 2027-08-18
- Clark County (86 mi) — Enactedterm not documented
- Putnam County (89 mi) — Enactedexpires soon — 2026-11-17
- Miami County (90 mi) — Enactedterm not documented
All 23 tracked actions in Indiana are on the state page.
As of August 2026 (2m ago) · changes weekly — re-check before citing
Illustrative rather than exhaustive — dozens of localities churn weekly, and this tracks the ones we have read a source for. **Each row carries its own provenance.** Rows showing a verification date link to the ordinance, the enacting body's own page, or a datable report of the vote, and were read on that date. Rows marked *unverified* came from bulk compilation and have not been checked against a primary source — the locality, the year, and the status may all be off. Verify one of those with the town clerk before citing it as precedent. **Expiry is derived, not asserted.** A row with a documented end date flips to *Expired* on its own once that date passes. A time-limited moratorium whose start date was never documented keeps showing as enacted — that is a known gap, not a claim that it is still in force. Moratoriums are also routinely extended, so an expiry date is the earliest it could have ended, not proof that it did.
Part of the U.S. data center moratorium tracker — open data, CC BY 4.0.