Franklin County KS data center moratorium (2026)

Franklin County, Kan. (county seat: Ottawa) — moratorium on DATA CENTER ACTIVITIES in UNINCORPORATED AREAS of the county, adopted unanimously by the Franklin County Commission on September 2, 2026, running through December 31, 2028. SCOPE CLARIFICATION: the moratorium covers only UNINCORPORATED areas, i.e., county-jurisdiction land outside the city limits of Ottawa or other incorporated municipalities. A data center project proposed within the City of Ottawa falls under Ottawa city permitting jurisdiction, not this moratorium. DURATION: 27 months (September 2, 2026 through December 31, 2028). This is toward the longer end of the county moratorium distribution in this dataset but shorter than some three-year Arkansas county moratoriums. COMPANION MEASURE: a ballot initiative in the CITY OF OTTAWA placed by court order for the NOVEMBER 2026 election would, if approved, impose a PERMANENT BAN on data centers drawing more than 25 MW within city limits — indexed separately as Ottawa KS proposed data center ban ballot initiative (2026). RADIO ATTRIBUTION: KOFO Radio (Ottawa, KS) is the primary local source, confirmed as serving Franklin County, Kansas. DISAMBIGUATION: not to be confused with Franklin County, Ohio (Columbus metro area) or Franklin County, Indiana; those have separate indexed entries.