# 2026-06 Quorum Court Postpones the Refiled Data-Center Moratorium On **2026-06-09** the Pulaski County Quorum Court voted **8–5 to postpone until July 14** the motion to advance the refiled twelve-month data-center moratorium — an ordinance **drafted by [[Wendell Griffen]]**, the Democratic nominee for Pulaski County Judge, and sponsored by JPs [[Tina Ward]], [[Julie Blackwood]], and [[Rebekah L. Davis]] (web research 2026-06-11, [Arkansas Times meeting report](../../web%20archive/2026-06-11/arktimes.com/data-center-moratorium-postponed-2026-06-09.md)). Had the motion carried, the ordinance would have gone on the June 23 full-court agenda. ## Sources - (web research 2026-06-11, [Arkansas Times — "'This is real': data center moratorium pushed to July"](../../web%20archive/2026-06-11/arktimes.com/data-center-moratorium-postponed-2026-06-09.md)) — the June 9 meeting report (Elizabeth L. Cline). - (web research 2026-06-11, [Arkansas Times — Quorum Court flooded with calls; the Kemp letter](../../web%20archive/2026-06-11/arktimes.com/quorum-court-flooded-with-calls-kemp-letter-2026-06-09.md)) — the pre-meeting report. - (web research 2026-06-11, [Arkansas Times — "County to get second bite at moratorium"](../../web%20archive/2026-06-11/arktimes.com/griffen-drafted-moratorium-refile-2026-06-04.md)) — the June 4 refile report. ## What happened - **The refile is a different instrument from May's.** Where the failed 26-I-37A was a data-center moratorium, the Griffen draft covers **"high-impact industrial and high-intensity digital infrastructure,"** defined by thresholds — **electrical demand ≥ 5 MW or water use ≥ 100,000 gallons per day** — reaching data centers, AI computing, and cryptocurrency mining without naming the industry, a drafting response to the [[AG Opinion 2023-060 and County Authority Over Data Centers|Act 851 preemption objection]]. - **The vote.** Postpone (8): [[Natalie Capps]], [[Steven Person]], [[Kathy Lewison]], [[Dianne Curry]], [[Aaron Robinson]], [[Phil Stowers]], [[Paul Elliott]], [[Staci Medlock]]. Against postponement (5): the sponsors and allies, including [[Tina Ward]], whose floor remarks anchored the opposition: "all this is happening in my district, where I live, and I'm not trying to be pushed out of where I live." - **An "independent subject matter expert" first.** The court agreed to call a **special meeting** — separate from regular sessions — to hear from an independent expert before the July 14 motion; Director of Public Works Tap Council was tasked with identifying the expert. - **A last-minute amendment.** An amendment was handed to JPs minutes before the meeting, per the Arkansas Times; JP [[Patricia Young-Baker]] described it on the floor (the report does not attribute its authorship). - **The County Attorney objected again.** Acting County Attorney [[Hamilton Kemp]] sent the court a letter (reviewed by the Arkansas Times) renewing the [[Arkansas Data Centers Act of 2023 (Act 851) and 2024 Amendments|Act 851]] / AG Opinion 2023-060 position that the county lacks authority for a moratorium; the court was "flooded with calls" ahead of the meeting. - **The Chamber lobbied against it.** [[Jack Thomas]], Senior Vice President of Economic Development at the [[Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce]] — the same body holding the Project Boar NDA — was invited to speak by [[Phil Stowers]] (drawing audience groans) and argued the 5 MW / 100,000-gpd thresholds would sweep in non-data-center employers, naming Norwegian carton maker Elopak. ## Significance - **The 8-vote math is now live, but deferred.** A non-emergency ordinance needs a simple majority (8 of 15) — not the 10-vote emergency threshold that killed 26-I-37A ([[Arkansas Quorum Court Ordinance Procedure]]). The refile has three named sponsors and the May record suggests eight-plus sympathetic votes; the postponement coalition (8) now controls the clock. **Next decision point: the July 14 motion to advance**, after the expert special meeting. - **The drafter is the County Judge nominee.** [[Wendell Griffen]] drafting and personally defending the ordinance binds the moratorium question to the **November 3 County Judge race** — the office that chairs the court, signs or vetoes ordinances, and controls Planning Board appointments. - **The preemption fight has moved from "data centers" to thresholds.** The Griffen draft's industry-neutral consumption thresholds are engineered to avoid Act 851's data-center-parity clause; Kemp's renewed objection tees up the legal question the [[AG Opinion 2023-060 and County Authority Over Data Centers|AG-opinion analysis]] flags as unresolved. - **The Chamber's appearance puts the Project Boar NDA-holder on the county record** opposing local regulation — a documented-interest fact for [[Documentary Minimization in the Arkansas Data-Center Record]]. ## Open follow-ups - The July 14 motion; the expert special meeting (date TBD); whether the Young-Baker amendment resurfaces. - The June 23 Planning Board meeting: as of 2026-06-10 the **posted agenda packet contains only three routine variance items — none of the five referred data-center measures** (primary public record, [June 23 Planning Board agenda packet](../../web%20archive/2026-06-11/assets.speakcdn.com/planning-board-june-23-agenda-packet-2026-06-10.md)). - Per-JP positions on the merits (the 8–5 was procedural, on postponement) — the July 14 vote is the substantive test. - FOIA candidates: the Griffen draft text, the Young-Baker amendment text, and the Kemp letter (NextRequest, Quorum Court records).