Trenton City Council must submit to city voters a proposed amendment to the city’s charter that would prohibit the construction of data centers, the Supreme Court of Ohio ruled today.

In a per curiam opinion, the Supreme Court found that the city council improperly refused to certify a city charter amendment proposed by five city residents who collected more than twice the minimum signatures required to submit the proposed amendment to the voters.

While the individuals sought a court order to place the proposed charter amendment on the Nov. 3 general election ballot, the Court ruled the Ohio Constitution does not require the city to do so and that the city can instead set a special election within the 60-to 120-day timeframe set out in the Constitution.

In August, the city council denied the request to submit the proposed charter amendment to the Butler County Board of Elections after ruling that under the city charter, the citizen group needed to file 820 valid signatures. The group argued that under the Ohio Constitution, it was required to submit only 128 valid signatures, and it had submitted 336.

“In sum, relators have shown by clear and convincing evidence that the council disregarded applicable law,” the Court stated.

Chief Justice Sharon L. Kennedy and Justices Jennifer Brunner, Joseph T. Deters, Daniel R. Hawkins and Megan E. Shanahan joined the opinion. Justices Patrick F. Fischer and R. Patrick DeWine joined a portion of the opinion and concurred in the judgment.

Residents Seek to Ban Data Centers
In July 2026, the residents filed a petition with the city clerk seeking to amend the city charter to prohibit the construction of data centers. The clerk sent the petition to the board of elections, which verified that it contained 336 valid signatures.

The board of elections also verified that 1,277 Trenton voters had cast ballots in the November 2025 general municipal election, and that 8,197 registered voters were in Trenton during that election.

The city council convened a special meeting in early August and did not certify the petition to place the proposed amendment on the Nov. 3 general election ballot. The city maintained that the Trenton city charter adopted Article XVIII, Section 9 of the Ohio Constitution, which requires that a charter amendment petition must be signed by “ten per centum of the electors of the Municipality.”

The city interpreted electors as persons entitled to vote and therefore determined that the total number signatures required was 10% of the 8,197 people registered to vote in Trenton during the November 2025 election. Because fewer than 820 signed the petition, the council refused to request that the board of elections put it on the ballot.

Residents Seek Court Order to Vote on Charter Amendment
Days after the city council rejected the petition, the residents sought a writ of mandamus from the Supreme Court to compel the city to submit the proposed charter amendment for placement on the general election ballot.

The city council objected to the lawsuit, as did Trenton Data Center Campus, a construction company building a data center in Trenton. The Court allowed Trenton Data Center to intervene and participate in the case.

Supreme Court Analyzed Election Rules
The Court explained that municipal charter amendments are governed by Sections 8 and 9 of Article XVIII of the Ohio Constitution. Section 9 states that a proposed charter amendment shall be submitted to voters if the petitions are signed by “ten per centum of the electors of the municipality.” Section 8 states that any proposed city charter amendment be scheduled at the next “regular municipal election” not less than 60 or more than 120 days after the ordinance submitting the proposed amendment is passed.

In years when no municipal election is scheduled, a charter amendment must be considered at a special election within the same 60- to 120-day period.

The Court ruled those two sections of the state constitution must be read in concert with a third, Section 14 of the same article. The opinion noted that in its 1996 State ex rel. Huebner v. W. Jefferson Village Council decision, the Court ruled that Section 14 establishes the number of petition signatures required to place a charter amendment on the ballot. The section states the total number is based on the “total vote cast at the last preceding general municipal election.”

The Court stated the constitution establishes that 10% of the voters who cast ballots in the last general election are required to place an amendment on the ballot, not 10% of the registered voters. Based on the Court’s holding in Huebner, 128 valid signatures were required in Trenton because 1,277 votes were cast in the last municipal general election. Faced with a petition containing a sufficient number of signatures, the city council had a “mandatory constitutional duty” to submit the petition immediately to the board of elections, the Court ruled.

Trenton argued that Section 14 did not apply because the city charter adopted Section 9, which requires 10% of the electors to sign a petition. The Court noted that it addressed a similar claim in its 2015 State ex rel. Wilen v. Kent decision, in which the city claimed under its home-rule authority that it could establish the higher petition threshold.

The Court ruled the city’s interpretation of its charter would create a conflict between the charter and the Ohio Constitution, and, given such conflict, the language of the constitution prevails.

The Court also rejected the city’s argument that the Court should deny relief because the residents sought to place the issue on the Nov. 3 ballot. The city noted this upcoming election is a “regular state election,” which occurs in even-numbered years, while regular municipal elections occur in odd-numbered years.

The Court did not find the issue was enough to deny the residents’ request but did clarify that the city is not required to submit the proposed amendment for inclusion on this year’s general election ballot. Instead, the Court held that the constitution requires the city to call a special election between 60 and 120 days after passage of an ordinance certifying that enough signatures were submitted to put the issue on the ballot.

2026-1035. State ex rel. Blankenship v. Trenton City Council, Slip Opinion No. 2026-Ohio-3406.

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