# Arkansas Data Centers Act of 2023 (Act 851) and 2024 Amendments The "Arkansas Data Centers Act of 2023" (**Act 851 of 2023**, originally HB 1799; codified at A.C.A. § 14-1-601 et seq.) is — despite its name — Arkansas's **digital-asset-mining (cryptocurrency) statute.** It defines a "digital asset mining business" functionally as a group of computers consuming more than one megawatt of power to **secure or validate a blockchain network**, and it barred local governments from regulating such businesses discriminatorily (mining-specific sound limits, discriminatory rezoning) — protections that did **not** extend to non-blockchain data centers, which the Act used only as a non-discrimination comparator. ## How it appears in the corpus - Act 851 is the statute underlying [[AG Opinion 2023-060 and County Authority Over Data Centers|AG Opinion 2023-060]], which the County Attorney cited at the 2026-05-26 Quorum Court meeting. - It is **distinct from** the data-center *tax-incentive* framework ([[Act 548 (2025)]]), which governs AI/cloud "qualified data centers" and **excludes** cryptocurrency mining from its benefits — a statutory line confirming that Arkansas law treats blockchain mining and hyperscale AI/cloud data centers as different categories. ## 2024 amendments (the rollback) In the 2024 fiscal session the General Assembly substantially reversed Act 851. The enrolled texts are now archived (primary public record, [Act 173 of 2024](../../web%20archive/2026-06-10/arkleg.state.ar.us/act-173-of-2024.md) and [Act 174 of 2024](../../web%20archive/2026-06-10/arkleg.state.ar.us/act-174-of-2024.md), both archived 2026-06-10), and they correct the wiki's earlier Tier-3 shorthand in two respects: - **Act 173 (SB 78)** — **narrowed, but did not wholesale-repeal, the local-preemption framework.** It subjects mining businesses to generally-applicable local operations-and-safety ordinances (amended § 14-1-604(a)); imposes mandatory **noise-reduction techniques** with relocation alternatives of "[a] minimum of two thousand feet (2,000') from the nearest residential or commercial use structure" or "[a]n area zoned for industrial use" (§ 14-1-604(b)(3)); creates a **private right of action** for landowners within 2,000 feet to enforce the noise duties, with prevailing-party fees (§ 14-1-604(b)(4)); and protects *home* digital asset mining from local prohibition (new § 14-1-604(f)). **The surviving preemption hook** is amended § 14-1-605(a): a local government still "shall not ... [i]mpose a different requirement for a digital asset mining business than is applicable to any requirement for a data center," nor "[r]ezone an area with the intent or effect of discriminating against a digital asset mining business." **The foreign-ownership prohibition is in Act 173** (new § 14-1-606, with a 365-day divestiture window and AG enforcement) — not Act 174 as previously recorded. - **Act 174 (SB 79)** — amended the Act's legislative findings (§ 14-1-602(b)) and created the **state permitting and regulation framework** for digital asset mining businesses. ## Litigation Act 174's foreign-ownership provisions (with the related Act 636 of 2023 farmland law) were **preliminarily enjoined** by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas in *Jones Eagle LLC v. Ward* (Apr. 2025), on Supremacy Clause / equal-protection / dormant-Commerce-Clause grounds; a federal appeal was argued before the Eighth Circuit in January 2026 and remained undecided as of mid-2026 (Tier-3; web-archive pending). The litigation concerns the foreign-ownership restriction, not local moratorium or zoning authority. ## Notes The **Act 851 / HB 1799 (2023)** bill record is now archived (Tier-2): [arkleg HB 1799 → Act 851 of 2023](../../web%20archive/2026-05-29/arkleg.state.ar.us/hb1799-act-851-2023-data-centers-act.md) (official title "TO CREATE THE ARKANSAS DATA CENTERS ACT OF 2023; AND TO CLARIFY THE REGULATION OF THE DIGITAL ASSET MINING BUSINESS"; sponsors McClure / J. Bryant; enacted 2023-04-13). The **enrolled texts of Acts 173 and 174 of 2024 are now also archived** (primary public record, 2026-06-10 — see the 2024-amendments section above). A Tier-3 archive of the *Jones Eagle* docket and coverage remains to be archived. The practical upshot for the county-authority question is documented on [[AG Opinion 2023-060 and County Authority Over Data Centers]].