Law center offers free services to Hawkins County for data center lawsuit
HAWKINS COUNTY, Tenn. (WJHL) — The Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) has offered to provide legal aid for free to the Hawkins County government as it faces a lawsuit from a crypto company.
Hawkins County Mayor Mark DeWitte confirmed that SELC has offered pro bono representation after ExoticRidge Crypto Company LLC filed a lawsuit against the county government.
ExoticRidge sued the county over what it referred to as a “sweeping” ban on data centers in Hawkins County’s limits.Federal lawsuit targets ‘sweeping’ data center ban in Hawkins Co.
The SELC’s Nashville office has offered to represent the county free of charge, and the Hawkins County Commission will consider the offer at its meeting next month.
“The attorney for the county’s insurance company, in conjunction with our county attorney, have begun working on an answer to the summons,” DeWitte said in a statement provided to News Channel 11. “We are taking appropriate action to file an answer. Thanks to the diligent work of Attorney Crystal Jessee, who represents the county in our opioid abatement settlements, along with Commissioner Robbie Palmer of the 7th District, we now have an offer from the well-respected Southern Environmental Law Center, particularly their Nashville office, to represent the county pro bono in this case. We are planning our next steps to defend ourselves, which is what most county citizens, especially those in the Bulls Gap area, have been asking for. I’m pleased we can move forward likely without having expenses that otherwise local taxpayers would be asked to cover.”
The ban ExoticRidge refers to in its lawsuit is an ordinance passed by the commission in September 2025 that effectively prohibits data centers from operating in Hawkins County. Commissioners passed the ordinance 10-2 after community members expressed concerns over ExoticRidge’s plans to build a data center in Bulls Gap.
