Records show Sen. Givhan handled Meta data center land sales

Court records obtained by APR show that state Senator Sam Givhan, R-Huntsville, served as closing attorney on the sale of city land for Meta’s north Huntsville data center.

The senator’s work for the city of Huntsville on the Meta deal predated data centers’ emergence as a major issue in Alabama’s 2026 election season and predated Givhan’s public opposition to further data center developments in the Tennessee Valley.

Documents from the Madison County Probate Department show that between 2018 and 2022, through his work as an attorney at Wilmer & Lee, P.A., Givhan represented the city of Huntsville in five Madison County transactions in which the city sold properties to Starbelt LLC, a special-purpose project entity created by Meta Platforms to build its 3.5 million-square-foot hyperscale data center campus in Huntsville.

Givhan left Wilmer & Lee to become a shareholder and director of Lanier, Ford, Shaver & Payne P.C. in January 2024.

All property deeds prepared by Givhan are located at Meta’s facility in the North Huntsville Industrial Park. In total, as the city’s attorney, Givhan prepared documents finalizing the purchase of roughly 455 acres of land for Starbelt, costing the developer $16,566,563.

Givhan served as closing attorney for the purchases of a 203-acre property in 2018, roughly 198 acres in 2019, a 2.61-acre easement in 2020, 49.68 acres in 2021 and 1.66 acres in 2022.

The 3.5 million-square-foot Meta center was granted Alabama’s then-maximum tax abatement period of 30 years for state property taxes and noneducational county and city property taxes.

Givhan previously stated on a September episode of WVNN’s “The Dale Jackson Show” that there is bipartisan “overwhelming opposition” to new data center developments in the Tennessee Valley.

Givhan further described himself as “opposed to data centers in the Tennessee Valley since before it was a common topic of discussion” in an interview with AL.com published last Wednesday.

“This is not simply a NIMBY issue for me,” Givhan told AL.com. “We have limited energy here in the Tennessee Valley and, particularly in challenging times, I want that limited energy to be utilized to run plants, such as Eli Lilly, that provide high paying jobs for our citizens and not simply running super computers with limited associated maintenance jobs.”

“While they are important for our national defense and commerce, they don’t have to be located in TVA territory,” Givhan said of data centers. “Additionally, I have advocated for eliminating all tax breaks or subsidies for data centers and establishing minimum acreage requirements and minimum setbacks from adjacent properties.”

In the interview, Givhan highlighted his role in bringing multiple economic development projects to Huntsville, including facilities owned by Polaris, GE Aviation, Mazda Toyota and, currently, Glaukos and Eli Lilly. The senator did not cite his role as the city’s attorney in the Meta development.

During the 2026 Legislative Session, state lawmakers passed a bill that reined in tax incentives for large data centers from a maximum of 30 years to 20 years. Givhan presented a successful amendment that protected abatements predating the bill.

“We have certain deals out there with data centers that, we’re just trying to protect those deals that the state of Alabama made and local municipalities made,” Givhan said at the time.

“I appreciate you bringing the bill. I think it’s very important,” Givhan told bill sponsor Senator Andrew Jones, R-Centre. “I just want to honor the contracts that are out there.”

In a Tuesday written statement, Givhan told APR that he has represented the city of Huntsville for more than 32 years, stating that the Meta facility “is not the typical data center on a number of fronts and this was a project aggressively pursued by the City.”

According to Givhan, noise complaints have not been an issue for the facility. The senator also said that because the center is on city land and regulated by city zoning ordinances, it is unlike other proposed Alabama data center developments on unincorporated land, unrestricted by zoning, that have faced backlash from surrounding landowners and advocacy groups.

Givhan also highlighted that the first phase of Meta’s Huntsville project, approved in 2018, took place before he received his initial nomination for his Senate seat. He further stated that although the center was granted a 30-year tax break, he feels the money provided to local schools by the facility has had a positive impact on Madison County.

Meta officials have also cited more than $4.5 million in contributions to local schools, charities and nonprofits.

The senator said his appointment after his 2022 reelection to the Energy Council, a national, nonpartisan legislative organization for state legislators interested in energy policy, influenced his current calls for data center regulation, claiming that Huntsville has deprioritized future data center developments in favor of industries that provide more robust job growth.

“I have learned much more about energy policy. Also, the City of Huntsville has changed its view on data centers,” Givhan stated. “The reasoning for this change of position has been focused on utilization of the limited energy we have available in the Tennessee Valley. I, and I think the City would agree, believe that the energy we do have available be used for industry providing good paying jobs, e.g, Eli Lilly.”

Givhan added that “it would be unlikely” that he would have an opportunity to oversee data center developments in his work as an attorney, “unless it was another Huntsville sponsored project.”

The senator maintained his commitment to introducing legislation to eliminate tax breaks for data centers and to set minimum setbacks and acreage requirements “to minimize disruptions to rural areas.”

“I would point out that Meta informed us that the reason for building the data center was to support all of the reels on Facebook and Instagram,” Givhan added. “I find it quite ironic that so many of those complaining do so on social media, thereby creating the demand for the data centers.”

Democratic Senate District 7 nominee Jared Sluss, in a Tuesday written statement, argued Givhan has “profited multiple times from the sale of Huntsville’s public land to Meta’s data center.”

“His own words make the case against the project he helped bring to Madison County,” Sluss said.

“All Sam had to do was share his current views in the AL.com interview. Instead, he bent the truth about his own past, on something easy to check,” Sluss added. “If he won’t be straight with us here, how can we trust him to be honest and on our side with our healthcare, our costs, and our children’s schools?”

Sluss went on to criticize Givhan’s campaign as reliant on corporate donors, including Meta.

“Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Neighbors are tired of establishment politicians who change their story with every poll, and that’s why this race is competitive despite his nearly $1 million of establishment backing,” Sluss said. “Sam Givhan is counting on establishment money to carry him. We’re counting on neighbors. If you want change that makes life affordable, and politics that loves our neighbors more than donors, vote Jared Sluss on November 3rd.”

Givhan has raised $711,013 in total campaign contributions, compared to Sluss’ $59,417.

Givhan’s three largest contributors in his 2026 reelection bid are Alabama Realtors PAC, the conservative state Senate incumbent committee Forge PAC and Huntsville-based billboard company Ozark Outdoor Media. The contributors have donated more than $130,000 to Givhan.

Meta, meanwhile, has contributed $5,000 to the incumbent’s campaign.