The Pulaski County Quorum Court has overridden County Judge Barry Hyde's veto of new regulations governing data centers, locking in permitting and oversight rules for high-intensity digital infrastructure projects in the county's unincorporated areas. The move resolves a monthlong standoff between the county's legislative body and its top executive over how to handle the sprawling AVAIO Digital data center project proposed near Wrightsville.
From Passage to Veto to Override
The fight began on Sept. 22, when the Quorum Court passed an ordinance regulating high-intensity digital infrastructure uses in unincorporated Pulaski County, classifying such operations as heavy industrial, according to a Pulaski County meeting recap. That measure established a conditional-use permit process along with performance standards, cost recovery, inspection, monitoring, enforcement and decommissioning safeguards, the county's summary states. It passed on an 11-4 vote, according to the Arkansas Times, which also reported that nine votes would be needed to override any veto.
Hyde vetoed the ordinance days later. As reported by The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, the Quorum Court has now overridden that veto, reversing Hyde's rejection of the regulations he had warned could expose the county to legal risk.
Why Hyde Pushed Back
Hyde's objections centered on potential legal, financial and administrative fallout. The Arkansas Advocate reported that the judge vetoed the new rules for data centers approved by the quorum court earlier in September, framing the ordinance as a liability risk rather than a straightforward safeguard, according to the Arkansas Advocate. Hyde argued the measure was, in his words, “an invitation to costly litigation over vested rights, due process, contractual interests, and constitutional protections,” per the same account from the Arkansas Times.
The regulations require prospective data center projects to submit electrical-load analyses, water and wastewater plans, land-use suitability studies and a decommissioning plan to the county, the Advocate reported. Notably, the rules do not cap how much water or power a project can use, though developers must show their projects would not materially impair utilities and other infrastructure serving neighboring properties, per that same reporting.
The AVAIO Project Driving the Debate
The ordinance is closely tied to AVAIO Digital's proposed data center near Wrightsville, which has grown considerably since it was first pitched. The company initially described a 150-megawatt, $6 billion facility on 760 acres, according to the Arkansas Times' earlier coverage. Since then, AVAIO purchased roughly 300 additional acres, bringing its footprint to about 1,000 acres, with the potential to scale up to 1 gigawatt of power demand and a total investment estimated at $21 billion, the outlet reported.
The ordinance applies to that project and other high-intensity industrial enterprises, touching on permits, noise abatement, safety, environmental impact and setbacks, according to the Arkansas Times. Before the veto fight, Justice of the Peace and ordinance sponsor Julie Blackwood had told the Arkansas Times she planned to seek an override vote if Hyde rejected the measure, the Advocate noted.
A Flashpoint in Local Politics
Data center regulation has become a defining issue well beyond the Quorum Court chamber. It emerged as a central theme in the Pulaski County judge race between Wendell Griffen and Michael Rushin, according to KATV, underscoring how divisive the AVAIO proposal has become among voters weighing growth against oversight.
Utility capacity has also factored into the broader conversation. Central Arkansas Water said in July that it has the capacity to supply two proposed hyperscale data centers eyeing locations in Pulaski County, according to The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's earlier reporting. Elsewhere in the state, a proposed data center campus in Clarksville illustrates the scale of the power demands at stake: that project would need more than 400 megawatts for its first four buildings alone, about five times the capacity of the city's own utility, per the same newspaper's reporting from July.
