Lawsuit filed to halt Amazon data center in Montgomery County

After months of pushback, a data center project in Montgomery County now faces a legal battle. The LLC Preserve Montgomery County filed a lawsuit against Montgomery County and the Missouri Department of Economic Development. On Monday, Feb. 16, 2026, Preserving Montgomery County filed a lawsuit alleging Sunshine Law violations and transparency issues by Montgomery County concerning an Amazon Web Services development.{ }{ } Attorney Steve Jeffrey, representing Preserve Montgomery County, said the petition is about transparency and his clients aren't asking for a dime for themselves in the suit. Jeffery said his clients are comprised of local residents, business owners and farmers. The LLC was established in December. "They've just been concerned for several months about the lack of transparency," he said. "Entering into non-disclosure agreements, conducting closed meetings, basically all the decisions are occurring in the dark." Throughout the winter, heated town halls and public meetings over two proposed data centers in the county took place. The proposed projects would span roughly 1,000 acres each. The lawsuit addressed the Amazon Web Service project. A proposed data center on the northeast quadrant of the I-70, Highway 19 interchange. Sabrina Cope, a Montgomery County resident and owner of Preserve Montgomery County LLC, said residents have felt shut out. "The level of transparency, it's been abysmal," she said. "Mainly, we felt that we weren't being listened to and we felt that this was the appropriate next step." Jeffery said many residents had expressed as tax payers they want to have a say in significant, and community altering, decisions like this. _______________ Follow KRCG on social media: KRCG CBS 13 News on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/krcgtv/ KRCG CBS 13 News on Twitter: http://twitter.com/KRCG13/ KRCG CBS 13 News on Instagram: http://instagram.com/krcg13news Subscribe to KRCG on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/KRCGNewsroom/?sub_confirmation=1 Watch more top local news stories: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHs2_IaMRAQ1buw_H3u6fzZRRv_KSNt-L For all of the day’s top local and national news, visit http://www.krcgtv.com/ Watch our live newscasts and other live video at https://krcgtv.com/watch Have a news tip? Send it directly to us: Email us: news@krcg.com Call the Newsroom: 573-896-5144 KRCG CBS 13 News offers coverage of news, sports, weather and local events in the Columbia and Jefferson City, Missouri area, including the community of New Bloomfield. #krcg #krcgnews #missourinews #cbs13news