Ohio Supreme Court Orders Trenton Data Center Ballot Measure

The Ohio Supreme Court ruled on September 1, 2026, that the city of Trenton must place a proposed charter amendment restricting large-scale data centers on a special election ballot. The amendment seeks to prohibit the construction of new data centers requiring more than 25 megawatts of electricity within city limits, though it would not impact an existing Amazon Web Services project developed by Prologis.

The ruling resolves a dispute over signature thresholds for the petition organized by the Woodsdale and Trenton Environmental Resistance (WATER) group. The Trenton City Council had previously rejected the petition, claiming 820 signatures were required based on registered voters. However, the court found that state law only requires signatures equal to 10% of the votes cast in the last general municipal election, which totaled 128 signatures.

Because the petition contained 336 valid signatures, the court determined the city council disregarded applicable law and ordered the certification of the measure to the Butler County Board of Elections. Barry Blankenship, the organizer of the WATER group, expressed that the ruling made him feel as though the community had finally been heard.