The Ohio Supreme Court is ordering a southwest Ohio city to let voters decide on a ban on data centers. The unanimous decision to put the ban before voters in Trenton near Cincinnati comes in the second case the court considered on data centers in the last month.
There are two proposed data centers planned for Trenton, and there's the possibility of a third coming. Five Trenton residents wanted to amend the city's charter to include a ban on construction of new data centers, so they circulated a petition and submitted a ban on data centers to Trenton City Council in July. The city charter requires the petition be signed by 10% of the electors of the municipality. The Butler County Board of Elections said there were 1,277 residents who voted in the general election on Nov. 4, 2025, and that the residents had 336 valid signatures. Residents said that was more than twice the 128 signatures they needed.
But the Trenton City Council rejected their petition. The council determined the word "electors" meant the total number of people qualified to vote, not the total who cast ballots. Since there were 8,197 registered voters in Trenton last November, council members said the residents needed to gather 820 signatures.
The court unanimously agreed with the residents. In an unsigned opinion, the justices said in refusing to certify there was "clear and convincing evidence that the council disregarded applicable law”.
Because it’s too late for the ban to be on this fall’s ballot, the court ruled a special election should be called no later than 120 days after the petition is certified. That could happen at the council’s meeting Thursday.
Last month the court ordered the village of Ashville to submit petitions opposing a data center project with EdgeConneX to the Pickaway County Board of Elections. Ashville officials had said the deal was done through emergency legislation, which the Ohio Supreme Court rejected. But the board of elections could have blocked the vote if it determined the deal was an administrative action. But the board has voted unanimously to allow the vote on the Ashville deal on the November ballot, according to Board of Elections director Jon Smith.
