Louisiana senator helped secure Meta's largest data center. Then he sold the land beside it.

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This story was published in collaboration with Verite News and the Louisiana Illuminator. Republished by The Guardian, The Lens, WWNO and others.<br>For more than two years, Louisiana State Senator John “Jay” Morris helped pave the way for Meta to build one of the world’s largest data centers, called Hyperion, in Richland Parish.<br>The Republican attorney lobbied a utility regulator for a key approval. He co-sponsored two bills that enabled the land deal between Meta and the state. And he voted “yea” on two additional bills that provided the trillion-dollar tech company with tax breaks worth an estimated $3.3 billion.<br>Now, a Floodlight investigation has found that while Morris used his political position to advance the project, he and his business partners were buying and selling the land around it over the past 15 months.<br>As recently as February, Morris and his partners sold hundreds of acres to utility giant Entergy for a methane-burning power plant to provide electricity for the data center.<br>Morris’ recent land deals haven’t been disclosed until today, according to Floodlight’s review of ethics filings, votes, media coverage and state Senate records. It’s unclear how much money he has made from these transactions — Louisiana law does not require buyers and sellers to publicly disclose sale prices.<br>Experts told Floodlight the senator’s actions may violate state ethics laws — such as La. R.S. 42:1112(A), 42:1120 and 42:1101 — which prohibit government officials from participating in official actions that benefit them financially, require them to recuse themselves from voting when a conflict exists and prohibit the use of public office for private gain.<br>"What makes it particularly egregious is not one isolated vote, but a sustained pattern: creating legal authority for a specific land deal, backing a huge tax break, lobbying a regulator, quietly positioning personal real estate around the project,” said Professor Dane Ciolino, an expert in governmental ethics at Loyola University New Orleans.

In an interview with Floodlight, Morris denied wrongdoing. He said his land holdings are public record and that the tax breaks he voted for applied to all data centers — not just the Meta project.<br>“ It makes a nice story if you can try to show that I have some sort of conflict,” Morris told Floodlight. “But under Louisiana's ethics laws, I don't.”<br>After years of maintaining a relatively low profile in the legislature, Morris has become a prominent political figure since Governor Jeff Landry took office. He’s chair of a judiciary committee, a member of three financial committees and joined the powerful State Bond Commission in 2024.<br>‘I haven’t done anything wrong’: A Q&A with Louisiana State Sen. Jay Morris<br>Morris’ recent land deals in light of Meta’s Hyperion data center buildout are raising questions about whether the senator violated state laws designed to prohibit self-dealing.<br>FloodlightGarrett Hazelwood/Floodlight

He’s also recently become a lightning rod for controversy at the statehouse after authoring bills that would eliminate Louisiana’s majority-Black congressional districts and take away the seat of a Black court clerk who had just been elected in New Orleans.<br>Morris told Floodlight his maps are intended to protect Republican incumbents in Louisiana's House races. As for eliminating a court clerk's post in New Orleans, he said he simply wanted to streamline court operations in New Orleans — and held nothing against the man.<br>“You can find some pundits and lawyers to say bad things about politicians. It's pretty easy, we're a popular target. But I haven't done anything wrong,” Morris said.<br>“I just hope you'd write a fair story.”<br>Construction on the Meta data center in Holly Ridge, La., on April 6, 2026. (Jay Marcano/Gulf States Newsroom)Entergy and Hyperion<br>In Northeast Louisiana’s Richland Parish, former farmlands are transforming into a vast expanse of concrete and steel.<br>Hyperion spans more than 3,650 acres, an area more than twice the size of Rayville, the town beside it. Once up and running, it’s expected to consume more than six times the amount of energy each day than the city of New Orleans.<br>Despite public opposition, state officials including Morris have pushed the project forward as part of a nationwide data-center buildout. Since construction began over a year ago, locals have complained of severe air quality issues from dust blowing off the vast construction site and relentless traffic from heavy commercial vehicles around once-quiet rural streets.<br>“Yes,  there are a lot of complainers, and a lot of the complainers are from out of state,” Morris said. “But the people in our area are generally happy about it.” He argued that the project’s benefits include new high-paying jobs, an increased tax base and money pouring into the education system.<br>Meta told Floodlight that the company is...