BRIGHAM CITY, Utah — A group protesting the construction of a massive data center in Box Elder County has filed an appeal after its applications to have the project placed on the upcoming ballot were denied.
The Box Elder Accountability Referendum (BEAR) group filed its appeal Wednesday in Utah's First District Court. The move came nearly a week after County Attorney Stephen Hadfield rejected the referendum applications.
Hadfield said the resolutions to move forward with the data center were not creating new laws of general applicability, but rather, established consent to work with MIDA (Military Installation Development Authority), which he said is required under the MIDA Act.
BEAR argues that the resolutions were legislative and therefore should be referable.
Referendum co-sponsor Brenna Williams was unsure when the court would take up the appeal, but noted that time is of the essence as the group holds out hope to get the issue on this year’s ballot, instead of having it pushed off to 2027.
“I think that ship has probably sailed, but in order for it to happen in 2026, we’d have to have our signatures counted and verified before August 30," said Williams. "A lot of times, the court will take election issues up very quickly and expedite them so that they can get on the ballot. It’s totally in the court’s ballpark now.”
The proposed 40,000-acre facility has drawn bipartisan ire across the state, with Utah leaders such as Gov. Spencer Cox issuing an executive order to set guidelines for data centers, and Senate President J. Stuart Adams calling for its footprint to shrink by 75%.
