Warrick Board Tables Data Center Ordinance

The Warrick County Board of Commissioners voted 3-0 on Monday, Nov. 9, to table a proposed ordinance regulating data center development in unincorporated parts of the county, the Courier & Press reported.

Commissioner Stacey Franz made the motion to table the ordinance until the next commissioners meeting. Commissioner Terry Phillippe seconded the motion. Franz, Phillippe and Commission President Sarah Seaton all voted for it, the Courier & Press reported.

The next regular meeting is at 4 p.m. Central on Monday, Nov. 23, under the board's adopted 2026 meeting schedule.

A Nov. 5 Hoosier First report previewed Monday's vote and described the draft overlay rules. The Area Plan Commission had sent the ordinance to the board with a recommendation against approval. Franz, who also sits on the plan commission, voted against that unfavorable recommendation, the Courier & Press reported.

The board heard from people on both sides of the issue at Monday's meeting, held at the Friedman Park Event Center in Newburgh, 14 News and WWBL reported. Some residents said they appreciate the county's transparency but want another six-month moratorium, 14 News reported. A 180-day moratorium was placed on data center development earlier this year while an earlier draft was under review, according to the Courier & Press. That earlier draft was later scrapped for the version before the board on Monday.

CenterPoint told the commissioners that data centers could lower utility rates and support economic growth, 14 News reported.

Commissioners also discussed land in Boonville and the possibility of annexing property there for a data center, 14 News reported. The Monday agenda described the ordinance as applying to unincorporated Warrick County and to the participating towns of Elberfeld, Lynnville and Tennyson, subject to adoption by each town's legislative body.

Seaton, in a statement issued after the plan commission vote and released before Monday's meeting, said the commissioners have authority only over the county's unincorporated areas. Incorporated cities and towns, including Boonville and Newburgh, have their own governments, she said. "Some of these communities are already in the preliminary stages of considering potential data center development," Seaton said in that statement, according to the Courier & Press.

Seaton said that if a data center is built in an incorporated area, potential financial benefits could stay in that community, even if impacts are felt around the county. "Simply rejecting an ordinance or prohibiting data centers in the county's jurisdiction does not eliminate the possibility of a data center being built," she said. "It may instead leave other jurisdictions free to pursue projects in locations that could be far less desirable for the county as a whole."

The board did not adopt the ordinance on Monday. The proposal remains before the commissioners for the Nov. 23 meeting.