Month: February 2026

Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A man has died after he was shot Friday night in Osage County.

Osage County Sheriff Mike Bonham said Tuesday that the man, previously identified as 45-year-old Jarrod Compton, was pronounced dead just before 10 p.m. Monday.

“We are still working the case at this point,” Bonham said when asked about arrests.

Deputies found Compton wounded outside a mobile home on County Road 703 near the Gasconade River at about 4:30 p.m. Friday. He was flown to University Hospital for treatment.

Bonham said Saturday that the shooting may have been related to a love triangle involving family members. One person had been detained and a weapon had been found, he said.

Bonham said Tuesday that the person deputies detained had been released. An autopsy will take place this week.

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Madison Stuerman

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A group of Montgomery County residents and property owners has filed a lawsuit to stop the construction of a data center.

Preserve Montgomery County, LLC, is suing two parties, Montgomery County and the Missouri Department of Economic Development. The group is asking for a Cole County judge to invalidate and ban the county from any action on the plan, bond order, and development agreement. Sabrina Cope of Truxton is listed as the company’s registered agent.

Steve Jeffery, an attorney with Jeffery Law Group representing the plaintiffs, said the group contacted him after county commissioners approved the most recent agreements tied to the project.

“They approached me several weeks ago about the data center project proposed in Montgomery County,” Jeffery told ABC 17 News. “The county commissioners there had already entered into several agreements, including a tax abatement plan and an infrastructure development plan.  So once the most recent of these plans was approved by the county Commission a week or so ago,  the group decided, well, it’s time to pull the trigger.” 

The lawsuit claims the county has violated Missouri’s Sunshine Law in multiple ways, all connected to the approval of the data center.

The plaintiffs are suing on 10 counts, including failure to post reasonable accessible public notices, conducting unlawful closed sessions and charging excessive fees to respond to sunshine requests.

Montgomery lawsuitDownload

In the 35-page lawsuit, the group cites multiple residents making sunshine requests and the county responding with an invoice between $200-$700 for the records.

For Montgomery County resident Tammy Ridgley, the issue began with unanswered questions.

“My initial thought was I wanted more information,” Ridgley said. “And honestly, that’s why we are where we’re at right now, because we haven’t gotten the information that we requested to make us feel good about our project.”

The group also accuses the county of not accurately providing notice for public meetings as required by Missouri law. Jeffery said one of the biggest concerns is transparency.

“For example, the three county commissioners each executed a nondisclosure agreement preventing them from talking about something,” Jeffery said. “But if you actually read the agreement, it never says who the agreement is with or what the subject matter is. Also Missouri statutes don’t authorize county commissioners to enter into nondisclosure agreements.” 

Jeffery also questioned whether the project should receive tax incentives and whether residents have been given complete information about its potential impact.

“They’re concerned about the amount of the tax abatement, whether or not the proposed data center really even needs a tax abatement, they’re a trillion-dollar company, but also more importantly, just the unknowns about the water usage that this data center operation would consume,” Jeffery said.

According to Jeffery, two hydrogeology reports presented to the county relied on a Missouri Department of Natural Resources report issued in 2020 that projected sufficient groundwater through 2060.

“If you actually go back and read it, it was issued in 2020, before anyone even considered having a data center here and the massive drawdown of the aquifer that the data center would use,” Jeffery said. “So in other words, it’s kind of smoke and mirrors here.” 

Ridgley said the scale of the development has heightened concerns in the community.

“The community is scared. This isn’t a small project in our community. It’s a thousand acres. One of our towns is half that size,” she said. “We’re basically building another small city with this data center.”

In the lawsuit, the Department of Economic Development is also accused of failing to properly monitor and administer the grant agreement. The lawsuit states that because the county allegedly violated Missouri’s sunshine law, it has also violated an agreement with the department. The DED is accused of not taking action to address these violations in connection with the data center.

Jeffery said the group is asking the state to rescind its $5 grant agreement with Montgomery County for a mega-scale development, claw back any funds already paid, and invalidate the tax abatement plan and development agreement. Ridgley emphasized the lawsuit is not about financial gain.

“In this lawsuit, no one is looking for money. What we’re looking for is the right answers,” Ridley said. “Just because we’re a small community doesn’t mean that we’re not going to stand up for ourselves and push for answers.”

Prior to the lawsuit, scores of Montgomery County residents packed public meetings to register their opposition to local data centers, citing concerns about the developments using up energy and water resources.

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Madison Stuerman

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Cole County prosecutor’s office has filed charges after one person was shot on Friday.

David Jarrett, 26, was charged on Friday with unlawful use of a weapon and endangering the welfare of a child. The charges were not made public until Tuesday.

Police were called to a home in the 900 block of Cedar Way in Jefferson City on Friday at noon.

Court documents state that Jarrett was heard threatening to hit a witness when the victim intervened. The victim tried to get Jarrett to leave the home, but he refused.

Police said the victim and Jarrett both pushed each other before he pulled out a gun from his holster and fired one round into the floor.

A child was reported to be on the ground in a walker when the gun was discharged.

A witness told police she removed the child from the home and when she returned, found the victim with Jarrett in a headlock.

Documents state that Jarrett then allegedly pulled out his gun again and shot the victim once in the torso. The victim was taken to University Hospital.

“Medical staff advised that no vital organs were struck, but the bullet was still inside of his body, where it will remain for the time being,” police reported in court documents.

Police reported finding damage to the floor consistent with a bullet, according to documents. Bullet fragments and another shell casing were also found in the same area, along with blood.

Jarrett was arrested after he left the scene with the young child, according to documents. Officers tried to stop his pickup truck as it was leaving the scene, but Jarrett drove away. He was arrested on E. Elm Street after stopping the truck.

Documents state that police found a Glock 17 .9mm with two rounds missing and a spent shell casing still in the chamber.

He is being held at the Cole County jail without bond as of Tuesday morning. A court date was not scheduled, according to online records.

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