On June 22, about 80 people waited for entry into the Jackson City Council’s meeting room to attend the city’s first public hearing on proposed data center regulations. What the attendees did not expect was finding out the chamber’s occupancy had been dropped by a third, keeping about two dozen people outside.
Neither council members nor residents received notice about the change prior to June 22, 2026, and the fire marshal inspection certificate on the wall during the time of the meeting still listed the room’s maximum occupancy at 90 people.
The new, lower occupancy limit means that only 60 of the City of Jackson’s more than 150,000 residents are permitted to attend Jackson City Council meetings, as compared to the previous 90-person limit. Even with that cap, it was already common for meetings to overflow into the hallways outside the chamber, forcing those attendees to watch proceedings on television.
This comes as local governments are restricting residents speaking out against data centers across the country. Last month an Indiana man was arrested for refusing to provide his legal name and address before speaking at a public data center hearing. Earlier this year, Oklahoma man was arrested for speaking beyond his allotted time at a public hearing about data centers in Oklahoma earlier this year, and last year a Wisconsin woman was arrested for leading a chant of “recall, recall, recall,” at another public hearing on data centers after her allotted speaking time ended.
Holmes: ‘The Council Didn’t Have Time to Be Informed’
Jackson Fire Marshall Elliot Holmes initially told the Mississippi Free Press at the beginning of the June 22 meeting that the new occupancy order came from Jackson’s fire chief, RaSean Thomas. But he later clarified that he, as a deputy fire chief, made the decision himself.
“(The council) didn’t have time to be informed,” Holmes told the Mississippi Free Press on June 24. “I told you on that particular day on Monday, at that time, I decided that this is what we (were) going to do, so we wouldn’t be overflowing individually, which would affect safety.”
Holmes, who enforced the occupancy limit by monitoring the council chamber doors at the June 22 meeting, contended that previous measurements of the room used for the occupancy limits were incorrect.
Holmes declined to answer questions about who signed the old occupancy limit sign, but it was visible on the other side of the room—bearing Holmes’ name, no date, and a typed signature from now-retired Building Inspector Jerry Woods.
Jackson Fire Chief RaSean Thomas was unavailable for comment.
“I can’t answer why it wasn’t a safety concern (earlier),” Holmes told the Mississippi Free Press on June 24. “(Let’s) say, at that particular time it wasn’t enforced. It’s been enforced as of Monday. It was enforced as of Tuesday and from here on out, when there’s anything over there in the council chambers, that occupancy is going to be enforced.”
The 90-person occupancy limit sign in the city council meeting room was replaced with a 60-person occupancy limit sign before the following June 24 afternoon.
The new 60-person limit essentially means that only as many people can attend as there are seats—or, in this case, 18-inch sections of wooden pew-style benches.
Holmes’ typed signature appears on the new occupancy limit sign as well as the old one—but so does Jerry Woods’, this time misspelled as Jerry Wood. There was “no reason” for Woods’ signature to appear on the document, Holmes told the Mississippi Free Press on June 24.
Jackson City Attorney Sondra Moncure declined to comment on the legality of the use of Woods’ signature post-retirement. It is unclear if Woods was aware of, or permitted, the continued use of his signature by the City of Jackson, as he was not available for comment.
By the following week, the sign was replaced with a new one bearing the signature of someone who still actually works for the city.
Clay: ‘They Knew They Put Him at That Door for a Reason’
Ward 2 Councilwoman Tina Clay was befuddled when Jackson Fire Marshall Elliot Holmes began enforcing the occupancy limit drop at a public hearing for potential data center regulations held on June 22.
“That night, when I questioned why they were doing it, (Holmes) said he had gotten the orders to do it, but he wouldn’t say who the orders came from,” Clay told the Mississippi Free Press. “Then he said, ‘Safety.’”
While Clay values fire safety, she still questioned the decision.
“I’m 100% in favor of safety… but I’m not 100% in favor of you changing something because of what the subject matter was, or what you perceived it to be, and there was no disorderly conduct or anything else, but this was your way of … limiting the number of people before they call the police,” Clay told the Mississippi Free Press. “When they had (another) hearing, they had the police all up and down the street. This time, instead of you using the police, you use the fire chiefs to limit the people.”
Clay noted that there was no increased police presence at the meeting—other than the two officers who normally serve as security for Jackson’s city council meetings—while similarly-controversial hearings, like the one on water board appointments, included increased police presence in the past.
“They knew they put him at that door for a reason,” Clay told the Mississippi Free Press. “You didn’t see not nay police in there that night, did you? No extra police—you saw only a fireman with a white shirt on, standing there playing police, regulating.”
Prior to the new occupancy limit drops, it was not abnormal to see people standing against walls to get a view of city meetings.
“(When) the mayor wanted us to vote on the water board … you had people packed all the way around that room, standing on that wall,” Clay explained the Mississippi Free Press.”They decided for the public hearing for the data center that you could no longer stand on the wall, that it was a safety issue and an occupancy issue, and so now they’ve changed it by 30 people. That’s a whole lot of different people to be changing that by. Just think about the number.”
Holmes enforced a similar occupancy limit change at the June 24 Planning Board meeting held in the Warren G. Hood Building across from city hall, only allowing as many people as there were seats into the conference room.
With Holmes manning the doors, potential attendees were turned away, despite ample standing and chair room available. There was no visible occupancy limit sign visible in the June 24 meeting room, despite its requirement under Mississippi Fire Code.
“We’re going back to a time before the civil rights era that you put people out when they want to voice their opinion,” Clay told the Mississippi Free Press.
Although there were fire fighters stationed at the doors once again, the new occupancy limit was not fully enforced at the June 23 City Council meeting, Clay said.
She can be seen pointing out people standing in areas they had not been allowed to spectate from on the night prior in the city’s livestream of the meeting.
“I’m not against anything that’s fair, but you can’t just randomly pick a meeting,” Clay continued. “They should have had a sign posting saying occupancy is to be changed or limited occupancy before you come that night.”
Hartley: ‘Crowd Control Is Fire Safety’
Jackson City Council Vice President Vernon Hartley also looked into the reasoning behind the last-minute occupancy changes implemented for City Hall’s assembly room. Hartley represents Ward 5.
“I think maybe it’s a poor time to have introduced that, but what our part of the administration considered was the fact that there was the situation with this particular issue of data centers,” Hartley told the Mississippi Free Press. “The first meeting over there (on May 27), it didn’t end well over at the planning with the Hood building, and a lot of things were out of control. We, the city, have reviewed its policy on the occupancy, and from that we simply want to make sure that all these proceedings are protected and orderly.”
Although there were verbal disruptions at the May 27 meeting—and a confrontation between a non-attending city official and a man in the street, once most of the anti-data center demonstrators were gone—there were not any visible incidents of exit doors being blocked in the Hood conference room.
Jackson faced issues with crowd behavior at public meetings in the past, passing a ban on attendance by intoxicated residents earlier this year.
As far as crowds overall, audience members often congregate in the exit aisle people use to approach the council for public comment. There is almost always some overflow into the hallway, even under the previous 90 person limit.
“Crowd control is fire safety,” Hartley told the Mississippi Free Press. “If anything happened, and we have to evacuate that building or that room, and we have that number of people in there, then that becomes a massive safety issue… Our job is to maintain that order, and to maintain order, and to protect the people and their voice, we need to have some sort of control over it.”
Concerns over safety in data center-related meetings are not isolated to Jackson. An Illinois man was arrested for allegedly threatening a public official in an email regarding data center development and a Pennsylvania man was arrested for making threats against public officials at a data center hearing, although he never actually spoke to any, both in May.
Understanding Fire Codes
Jackson Fire Marshall Elliot Holmes’ decision to further limit occupancy at public meetings was guided by the 2024 International Fire Code (IFC), he told the Mississippi Free Press on June 24. Chapter 10 of the International Fire Code addresses regulations on means of egress.
The Mississippi Fire Prevention Code includes the 2024 International Fire Code and a handful of additions. The City of Jackson also has its own, less-detailed fire code, which appears in Chapter 58 of the city’s ordinances.
“People are all in front of their exit, not only on the inside, but on the outside,” Holmes told the Mississippi Free Press in reference to past meetings. “Think about it—if the worst was to happen on the inside, I still need to be able to (intervene) so that’s why, when it comes to exit, it needs to be cleared up.”
Occupancy calculations are determined by considering the room’s intended use, square footage, means of egress, seating arrangements, and other life safety considerations, Deputy Fire Chief Cleotha Sanders told the Mississippi Free Press. Fire sprinklers and travel distance to emergency exits also affect occupancy calculations, among other factors, according to the 2024 IFC.
“While seating capacity may be one factor considered in certain assembly occupancies, occupancy limits are generally established through code-based calculations rather than solely by the number of available seats,” Deputy Fire Chief Cleotha Sanders told the Mississippi Free Press.
Holmes believes that the previous 90-person capacity limit designation was incorrect because it included the area in which council members sit, which is not open to the public, in calculations, he told the Mississippi Free Press. The 2024 IFC section 1004.2.1, however, dictates that occupant loads should be the “combined occupant load of interconnected accessory or intervening spaces.”
Assembly rooms like the Hood building conference room and the Jackson City Council chambers fall under different fire code restrictions than other rooms, like restaurants or offices.
Occupancy determination records may include inspection reports, occupant load calculations, floor plans, code references, correspondence, and other records associated with the evaluation, Sanders told the Mississippi Free Press. The Mississippi Free Press requested these records.
While the Fire Department is meant to inform building administrators of occupancy changes, “… the timing of notification may vary depending on the nature of the review and whether any immediate life safety concerns are identified,” Sanders told the Mississippi Free Press.
Jackson’s fire code does not provide any framework for prior notice of occupancy changes, nor does it provide a framework for oversight mechanisms regarding those decisions. The Fire Marshal has absolute discretion in his decision making under current city law.
The City of Jackson held large meetings in other buildings, like local churches, when appropriate in the past, Jackson City Council Vice President Vernon Hartley told the Mississippi Free Press.
Schedules for future Jackson City Council and Planning Board meetings can be found here.
Follow the Mississippi Free Press’ coverage of data centers and read past stories here.
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