EVANSTON—A formal petition requesting a judicial review of the Uinta County Commission’s issuance of a conditional use permit allowing Prometheus Hyperscale to build a data center near Evanston has been dismissed by Third District Court Judge James Kaste.

 After Uinta County commissioners voted to approve the permit, residents Christy Katzl, Wilhelm Katzl and Marijke Rossi filed a July 16 petition, citing property values, community and environmental safety concerns and a number of other allegations.

The petitioners accused county officials and developers of engaging in private and unadvertised meetings and failing to conduct and provide environmental impact studies, particularly regarding the “closed-loop” system the data center developer has said it will implement. 

Petitioners also accused county commission Chair Mark Anderson and Commissioner Eric South of nepotism in relation to approval of the project.

Uinta County Attorney Loretta Howieson Kallas, who represents the commission, filed a motion to dismiss the petition on July 24. The petitioners had 15 days to respond.

Rossi requested and filed a notice of voluntary dismissal from the petition, which Kaste approved without prejudice on Aug. 4.

On Aug. 17, the remaining petitioners were issued an order of dismissal by the judge in part because the parties did not respond to Kallas’ motion to dismiss within the time allowed by the Wyoming Rules of Appellate Procedure.

Additionally, “the Court finds that the Petitioners have failed to sufficiently allege that they are aggrieved or adversely affected … and, therefore do not have statutory standing,” Kaste’s response states.

“Petitioners make no effort to allege any specific perceptible harm different from any other person in Uinta County … and they have failed to avail themselves of the opportunity to expound upon those allegations in response to the Motion to Dismiss,” the ruling continued. “The Court can only conclude that the Petitioners do not have standing to challenge Uinta County’s decision to issue the Conditional Use Permit.” 

Uinta County Attorney Loretta Howieson Kallas and Prometheus Hyperscale founder Trenton Thornock speak at a June 16, 2026, commission meeting at the Lyman Town Hall. The Uinta County commission subsequently approved a conditional use permit for the Prometheus Hyperscale’s data center with 15 conditions. (Amanda Manchester/Uinta County Herald)

Katzl also filed a formal objection and notice of violation of the Wyoming Open Meetings Act on Aug. 4, outlining identical grievances in addition to accusations that the county failed to respond to her multiple public records requests made on July 14, July 21, July 22 and Aug. 1.

“She [Katzl] asserts that there is an active hiding of public records,” Kallas said, publicly responding directly to each of Katzl’s complaints during an Aug. 4 county commission meeting. 

Kallas said that despite Katzl’s failure to complete the appropriate request forms, the Uinta County Clerk’s office has 30 days to fulfill her records requests should it choose to proceed without the forms.

“Every citizen is asked to fill out a public records request in Uinta County,” Kallas said. “It is a formal provision that we try for equality for all citizens.”

Amanda Manchester has been a reporter for the Uinta County Herald since 2023, specializing in county coverage and crime and court reporting. When not working, she enjoys volunteering for a variety of...

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  1. Data centers don’t just impact the county that they are located in. They impact the entire state by increasing overall electricity costs as well as using Wyoming’s most precious natural resource – water. There must be statewide oversight of datacenter construction with statewide, common sense regulations. This is an important part of my platform as the democratic candidate for Wyoming HD 26. What happens in Uinta impacts us in Big Horn County!

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  3. Because Government is of, by, and for The People… Right?

    Also so glad we have those judicial safeguards for balance of power.

    Is the illusion starting to fade yet, people?

    Reply