Trenton Must Place Data-Center-Ban Amendment on Special Election Ballot
The Supreme Court of Ohio has ruled that Trenton City Council must submit a proposed charter amendment, which would prohibit data center construction, to city voters on a special election ballot. The city council had improperly refused to certify the citizen-led petition, which had gathered sufficient signatures, by misinterpreting signature requirements. This decision allows Trenton residents to vote on the data center ban.
The Supreme Court of Ohio has ordered the Trenton City Council to place a proposed charter amendment, which would ban data center construction, on a special election ballot. The unanimous per curiam opinion found that the city council had improperly rejected a citizen-led petition to amend the city's charter, despite residents collecting more than twice the required minimum signatures.
The city council had denied the request to submit the amendment to the Butler County Board of Elections in August 2026, claiming that the city's charter required 820 valid signatures. However, the citizen group argued, and the Court agreed, that the Ohio Constitution, specifically Section 14 of Article XVIII, only required 128 valid signatures based on the total votes cast in the last municipal election, not the total number of registered voters. The residents had submitted 336 valid signatures.
Trenton Data Center Campus, a construction company with a project in Trenton, intervened in the case. The Supreme Court clarified that while the city must hold an election, it is not required to place the amendment on the upcoming November 3 general election ballot (a regular state election). Instead, the city is mandated to call a special election within 60 to 120 days after an ordinance certifying the signatures is passed.