County must pay crypto firm $90K

Judge rules against noise ordinance by Arkansas County

A federal judge ruled Wednesday in favor of a crypto mining company in its lawsuit against a county government in Arkansas.

The suit was filed over an October ordinance passed by the Arkansas County Quorum Court that sought to set stricter noise limits on crypto mines in the county.

The county is in southeastern Arkansas in the delta region near the Mississippi River.

As part of Wednesday’s ruling in a federal district court, the county agreed to a settlement, enforced by a consent decree, which bars it from passing any similar ordinances in the future.

The county must also pay $90,000 in compensation for legal fees and other expenses for the crypto company, Jones Digital, LLC.

Jones Digital’s complaint, filed in November 2023 against an Arkansas County judge, sheriff and prosecuting attorney, claimed the ordinance was illegal under Act 851.

Act 851, also known as the Arkansas Data Centers Act of 2023, broadly barred local and county governments from passing ordinances to specifically restrict crypto mining operations.

Two bills which lifted Act 851’s ban on local noise ordinances aimed at crypto mining operations were passed by the legislature the same day as the ruling and signed into law, effective immediately, just two days later, on Friday.

But one stipulation of the consent decree is that it “shall not be foreclosed or otherwise limited by any amendment

[to Act 851] or by any subsequently-enacted state statute.”

This means that Jones Digital’s crypto mining operation appears to be grandfathered in in terms of noise regulation at the county level.

Sen. Joshua Bryant, R-Rogers, a sponsor of both Act 851 and one of the recently passed laws, said on Monday that the new legislation will “ideally embolden the local officials to do things within reason within their power” to control noise in other places.

The new laws don’t specify limits on decibel levels, which Bryant said are “almost impossible to track because they’re gonna fluctuate with the wind and with the surrounding noise and ambient noise.”

The laws do, however, set statewide standards for noise reduction by mandating soundproofing, quieter mechanical systems or setbacks from nearby buildings.

Crypto mines, he said, must be in “compliance with the law or the state can take action. Or a neighbor can take action.”

Jones Digital, LLC. couldn’t be reached for comment on Monday.