Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of ongoing original investigative articles into the proposed Grant County data center. They are copywritten. Anyone plagiarizing my work will be held accountable in a court of law. Documents are watermarked.
My Freedom of Information request to Grant County Judge Randy Pruitt didn’t start as an official request.
I simply asked who was on Pruitt’s “advisory committee” for the proposed data center. Many people in Grant County have mentioned this advisory committee to me. From what I have gathered, it is an informal group of people who seemingly advise Pruitt on all-things data center.
Here’s what I sent on July 15:
Judge Pruitt,
Pursuant to the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act, Ark. Code Ann. § 25-19-101 et seq., I am requesting access to, and copies of, the following public records:
A complete list of the members of the advisory group, council, task force, or similarly named body that you have convened or appointed to advise on, study, or otherwise address the proposed data center in Grant County, including the name, title or affiliation, and appointment date of each member.
This request also includes any document establishing or naming this body — including any appointment letter, order, memo, charter, or announcement — as well as any bylaws, meeting schedule, or agenda associated with it.
I raised this same request verbally with your office on July 14, 2026, and was told by your secretary that she was not aware of any such group. She just shrugged.
To the extent that response reflected incomplete information rather than the absence of responsive records, I ask that this written request be treated as the operative request and forwarded to whoever in your office maintains these records.
If any portion of these records is exempt from disclosure, I request that you release the remaining, non-exempt portions and identify the specific statutory exemption relied upon for each redaction or withholding, as required under Ark. Code Ann. § 25-19-105.
As you know, Arkansas law requires a response to this request within three (3) business days of receipt. Please provide the records electronically (PDF preferred) to the email address below. If there are any fees associated with this request, please notify me in advance if the estimated cost will exceed $25.00.
If you deny any part of this request, please cite the specific statutory basis for the denial and notify me of any appeal rights available under the Act.
Thank you for your prompt attention to this request. Please contact me with any questions.
Sincerely,
Suzi Parker
The Grant County Fire
grantcountyfire.com
Here is the response received the same day about an hour after my email:
Ms. Parker,
No public records exist responsive to your request.
Randy Pruitt
Grant County Judge
I decided, as I do, to dig deeper. I sent another FOIA request asking for, well, a lot of information. I will be sharing these documents for the next several days as I dig deeper into what we now know is the possible end user — EdgeConneX.
Pruitt told the Court Monday night at its regular meeting. Pruitt told me about EdgeConneX late Monday afternoon. He also told me the data center would not be brought up in the Quorum Court meeting unless a member asked. A member did. Pruitt answered.
I asked Pruitt for an official comment Tuesday afternoon and EdgeConneX.
He wrote in an email: “We have been informed that EdgeConneX is the prospective buyer of Sheridan Data Center LLC. Our understanding is that they have a 120 day due diligence period with the option of a 30 day extension to make a final decision concerning the purchase.”
You can read all about EdgeConneX here.
Back to that advisory board that doesn’t exist, may exist — seems to definitely exist
In my FOIA request, there is a file on the flash drive (I have to provide one every time I pick one up so subscribing to the Fire site helps me with that cost) titled “Unofficial Advisory Group.” The document are text messages between the advisory group.
This proves some type of group exists.
Here is that document.
Six people are in the encrypted text message group: Quorum Court member Mike Nevens; George Murray, who has been an adviser on data centers to Pruitt for months; incoming Grant County Judge Ron Casey; Jeremy Hill, partner and vice president of operations at Connect Service Solutions and Brody Richardson, owner of Brody Richardson Construction and Zach Hill, an attorney who ran for Sheridan School Board in 2022.
On May 4 at 12:40 p.m., Nevens wrote: “I’m starting this group text for the advisory group so we have a place to send to everyone at once. Meeting updates, plans, etc.
Murray then messages: “I am bringing many documents today for the group — Zach Hill will be reviewing a Grant County NDA template — we will discuss Clean Cloud submittals, some Arkansas precedence, and some tech stuff on data centers.”
Casey replied, “Thanks.”
On May 14, Murray wrote, “Email sent to everyone regarding Monday meeting with Clean Cloud — please check your email inbox and confirm if you are attending in person on Monday - thanks, geo.”
Nevens, Hill, Murray, Casey, Richardson, Hill all said they would attend.
The group apparently met on the morning of May 18 because Richardson sent a text at 8:20 a.m. stating: “Just letting this group know, I will be 8:50 arrival time.”
Where this meeting occurred is unclear.
However, at 2:22 p.m., that same day, Murray texted: “Many thanks to Jeremy and his team for their hospitality.”
The next message was June 24 from Murray. He wrote: “Grant county made a great showing today in Little Rock at the Assoc of Arkansas Counties - we had approximately 70 attendees in the audience, mostly County Judges - Randy opened up the presentations with history and great perspective of how we got to today - I presented the people processes and tools of our efforts - Mike finished the session with a great review of the give/get list and hosted the (many) questions and answers - countless people cornered us after the session thanking us for the valuable information on Act 9 Bond tax abatements and how to handle data centers in the future - all the best, George”
Casey replied: “Thanks George.”
Hill replied: “Good deal! Great job everyone!”
The FOIA request did not contain any more text messages from the group including in July.