Box Elder County commissioner responds to conflict of interest allegations tied to Stratos Project

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Commissioner Boyd Bingham denies conflict of interest allegations regarding the Stratos Project vote.
• Bingham claims no knowledge of Western AgCredit lien on project parcels.
• Utah Civic Compact requests Attorney General investigation into potential conflict of interest.

SALT LAKE CITY — Box Elder County Commissioner Boyd Bingham is pushing back against allegations that he failed to disclose a potential conflict of interest before voting in favor of transferring thousands of acres of land to the Military Installation Development Authority, or MIDA, for the Stratos Project data center.

The claims center on a Western AgCredit lien tied to multiple parcels within the project area — and Bingham's role on the company's board of directors. Western AgCredit is a member-owned cooperative and the largest agricultural lending institution in the state.

Bingham insists he had no knowledge of the lien at the time of the vote and said he acted in good faith.

"I had no knowledge of ... their participation with Western AgCredit or specifically about a lien with these particular parcels," Bingham said.

Allegations surface after May 4 vote

On May 4, the Box Elder County Commission approved two resolutions, including Resolution 26-11, which provides the required consent for MIDA to establish the project area. Resolution 26-12 establishes "guardrails" negotiated by the county's attorney.

"There is no one on this commission or any other county elected official that is going to benefit from this project financially or otherwise," Commissioner Lee Perry stated during the meeting.

But last week, the Utah Civic Compact, a nonprofit group opposed to the massive data center, said it filed a formal complaint with the Utah Attorney General's Office. The group alleges Bingham should have disclosed that Western AgCredit, where he serves on the board of directors as compensation committee chair and risk committee vice-chair, holds an active lien on 10 parcels, owned by Bar H Ranch Inc., included in the initial 40,000-acre project area.

According to county records, a deed of trust between Bar H Ranch Inc. and Western AgCredit was filed in October 2011 to secure a $650,000 loan.

The Utah Civic Compact argues that Bingham had a responsibility to investigate potential conflicts before his May 4 vote, and that his annual conflict‑of‑interest form, filed in January, in which he disclosed his affiliation with Western AgCredit, does not satisfy that requirement.

"When Commissioner Bingham voted yes, he disclosed none of this … no disclosure of his board seat, no disclosure of the lien, and he did not abstain from the vote," said Clark Dice, cirector of communications for the Utah Civic Compact. "Things ought not to be done in the shadows. There's nothing wrong with being on the County Commission while also being on the board of directors for a financial institution … but if one financially benefits from the other, you have to disclose that conflict of interest."

During a media briefing on June 9, Dice called on the attorney general's office to investigate the matter to ensure the "law was followed."

"It is not for us to determine whether or not a crime has been committed, but it's safe to say that there is enough information that we know that the attorney general should look into it to make sure that there was no crime committed," Dice said.

If an investigation finds fault or wrongdoing, Dice called on Box Elder County officials and the attorney general's office to go back to the drawing board on the Box Elder County Commission's vote.

"If the individual members of the government who hold our public trust stand to benefit from the approval of these projects, we've got to at least know about it," Dice said. "We hope the gttorney general steps in and uses every legal measure in their capacity to compel either a revote or a denial of the approval for the project."

The attorney general's office said it does not usually comment on ongoing or potential investigations.

Bingham: "I had no knowledge"

Bingham strongly denies any wrongdoing, saying he was unaware that Bar H Ranch Inc. was a Western AgCredit customer until the Utah Civic Compact raised concerns on June 9.

"On June 9 was the first I had even known that these people were customers with Western AgCredit," Bingham said. "I found out that this transaction took place in October 2011; I wasn't even elected to the (Western AgCredit) board until July of 2023."

In his role on the board of directors at Western AgCredit, Bingham said he works on general matters of strategy and policy. Bingham said the compensation committee deals with employee matters while the risk committee deals with external risks to the business, "not necessarily individual loans with individual people."

"If there was any kind of an issue that I could see up front and I had knowledge, I would have recused myself. I don't want anybody to think I am voting for something where I would get gain," Bingham said.

He emphasized that the lien predates his service on the board by several years, and he does not stand to benefit financially from the sale of the parcels.

"As a board member, we get paid stipends for study, travel, and for our time in meetings," Bingham said, adding that he is also reimbursed for company expenses.

"Whatever Western AgCredit makes as far as money is concerned on their business dealings, doesn't change what I get paid," Bingham said. "None of that would come to me at all."

Bingham also expressed frustration that his integrity is being questioned.

"They've insinuated that I don't have integrity, and I've lived my whole life trying to develop integrity so I can do business here and set a good example for my kids," he said.

Western AgCredit response

In an email response, Western AgCredit President and CEO David G. Brown answered all of KSL's questions and echoed Bingham's statements.

"At the time of the May 4, 2026, decision by the Box Elder County Commission, Director Bingham did not have knowledge that property involved in the proposed Stratos Project serves as collateral for a loan with Western AgCredit," Brown said. "Board members are not involved in decision making at the customer or loan level, nor would they have reason to be aware of what properties serve as collateral for any individual loan."

Brown said that Western AgCredit holds its directors to high standards, and its review of the available information determined that Bingham did not have knowledge of the lien and "therefore had no knowledge of a potential conflict of interest that would prompt a recusal evaluation."

Brown also noted that "neither Director Bingham nor Western AgCredit would benefit financially from the sale of the subject property." Since Western AgCredit is a lending institution that makes money from interest income on outstanding loans, Brown argued that a property sale and, consequently, a loan being paid off, "would reduce the amount of interest income Western AgCredit would earn."

Compensation for the board of directors is based "exclusively on time spent in the performance of official duties and not connected in any way to the financial performance of the organization," Brown said.

Statement from Box Elder County:

Box Elder County released the following statement:

"Box Elder County has not been formally served with these filings. Once the county receives and reviews the relevant documents, we will evaluate the matter and respond as appropriate. Additional information will be provided as it becomes available and as circumstances allow."

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.

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Garna Mejia

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Garna Mejia is a reporter for KSL.