Harrison County, Indiana, is defined by its rolling farmland, family-centered towns, and generations-deep agricultural heritage. That way of life is now at risk.

Data centers are among the most energy- and water-intensive industrial facilities being built in rural America today. Beyond the strain on our power grid and water supply, they bring constant mechanical noise, sprawling concrete footprints, and industrial traffic — changes that permanently alter the character of a farming community. Once built, they cannot be un-built.

But there's another concern. Hyperscale data centers — the massive facilities needed to power AI and cloud services — are increasingly tied to expanded government surveillance infrastructure. Civil liberties organizations including the ACLU and Brennan Center for Justice have documented how these facilities store and process the vast amounts of personal data collected by law enforcement agencies: license plate readers, facial recognition systems, location tracking, and communication metadata. As the Department of Homeland Security's surveillance budget has grown dramatically in recent years, the physical infrastructure required to support these operations becomes a strategic asset. Our rural communities don't need to host the servers that enable digital dragnets sweeping up ordinary citizens' data.

Our county commissioners deserve credit for passing a one-year moratorium on data center development. But a moratorium is a pause, not a protection. Neighboring counties that studied the long-term consequences have concluded the same thing: temporary measures leave the door open. Marshall County enacted Indiana's first permanent data center ban in April 2026, citing the need to protect farmland and local resources. Cass County has followed with similar permanent restrictions.

Harrison County needs the certainty of a permanent ban, following their lead.

The stakes are clear. Data centers already consume roughly 1–2% of the world's electricity, and demand is growing rapidly. We do not oppose technology — but that growth should not come at the expense of our farms, our water, our privacy, and our quiet rural communities.

We therefore call on the Harrison County Commissioners to convert the current moratorium into a permanent ban on data center development within county limits.