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Special Investigations

No. 1 — Jupiter in the Courts

Doña Ana County, New Mexico Record current as of Aug 13, 2026

In October 2025, two lawsuits were filed against the Board of County Commissioners of Doña Ana County over its approval of Project Jupiter — the $165 billion data-center campus in Santa Teresa. They were filed on the same day, against the same defendant, over the same approvals. They have traveled very different roads. This page reports the court file, and only the court file: what was filed, what was ruled, and when. Every line below can be verified in the public record — instructions at the bottom.

CASE 1Pacheco v. Board of County Commissioners

D-307-CV-2025-02764 · Third Judicial District Court · filed Oct 17, 2025

Dismissed · July 13, 2026
Petitioner
Derrick Pacheco, appearing pro se (self-represented)
Respondent
Board of County Commissioners of Doña Ana County — NM Local Government Law, LLC
Intervenors
Yucca Growth Infrastructure, LLC (ScottHulse PC; Bradfute Sayer; Kirkland & Ellis LLP, Dallas, pro hac vice) and Oracle America Cloud Services, LLC f/k/a Green Chile Ventures, LLC (Rodey Law Firm)
Presiding judge
Hon. Jim Foy — designated by the New Mexico Supreme Court on Jan 2, 2026, the case's eleventh judicial assignment
DateEvent, per the register of actions
2025-10-17Petition for Judicial Review filed (Rule 1-074 NMRA), challenging the Sept 19, 2025 approval of the Project Jupiter industrial revenue bond ordinance
2025-11-17County moves to dismiss: an IRB ordinance is a legislative act not reviewable under Rule 1-074
2025-12-03Petitioner responds; moves to accept late filing, to stay construction (temporary injunction), and for judicial notice; files notice of paper filing for lack of e-filing access
2025-12-18County, Yucca, and Oracle file oppositions — Yucca's opposition to the injunction request spans three parts and roughly 800 pages. Same day, the register records court mail to the petitioner returned undelivered
2026-02-24Hearing before Judge Foy (all pending matters)
2026-03-04Four written orders: the County's motion to dismiss is granted (the original petition is dismissed); the petitioner's late filing is accepted; the stay motion is dismissed; the judicial-notice request is withdrawn
2026-03-30Petitioner's First Amended Pleading is docketed (an earlier March 11 email submission is disputed), now directed at the Oct 9, 2025 zone-change approval, Case Z25-016
2026-03-26County, Yucca, and Oracle each move to dismiss the amended pleading — exhaustion of administrative remedies, standing, and the 30-day appeal deadline among the stated grounds
2026-04-13Petitioner files a combined response with an alternative request for "limited curative relief"
2026-04-28County and intervenors reply; briefing complete
2026-06-23 / 07-01All-pending-matters hearing (conducted by videoconference); proceedings minute entered July 1
2026-07-13Order granting the County's and intervenors' motions to dismiss the First Amended Pleading. The case is dismissed

CASE 2Saldaña & Fuller v. Board of County Commissioners

D-307-CV-2025-02766 · Third Judicial District Court · filed Oct 17, 2025

Active · writ issued · next hearing Sept 2, 2026
Petitioners
José Saldaña Jr. (Sunland Park) and Vivian Fuller (Santa Teresa) — represented by Kate Locke Maslyn and Eric D. Jantz. (Original co-petitioner Empowerment Congress of Doña Ana County withdrew Nov 6, 2025)
Respondent
Board of County Commissioners of Doña Ana County — NM Local Government Law, LLC
Intervenors
Yucca Growth Infrastructure, LLC and Oracle America Cloud Services, LLC
Presiding judge
Hon. Jennifer E. DeLaney — designated by the New Mexico Supreme Court on Nov 21, 2025, the case's twelfth judicial assignment
Target
IRB Ordinance 367-2025 and LEDA Ordinances 368-2025 & 369-2025, via petition for writ of certiorari or, alternatively, complaint for declaratory judgment
DateEvent, per the register of actions
2025-10-17Petition for writ of certiorari / declaratory-judgment complaint filed against the three Project Jupiter ordinances
2025-10-21/28Expedited motion for stay; emergency application for temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction
2025-11-20County moves to dismiss the petition and complaint
2026-03-20Writ of certiorari issued after a motion hearing — the court takes up review of the ordinances
2026-04-08Yucca withdraws its own motion to dismiss (and its complaint in intervention)
2026-05-13Record on review and hearing transcript filed
2026-05-26 → 07-17The parties litigate what belongs in the record: petitioners move to strike; intervenors move to supplement under Rule 1-075(I); the County joins; briefing completes July 17
2026-07-02Order denying the County's motion to dismiss; stay denied; preliminary-injunction request found moot; both interventions granted
2026-09-02Next motion hearing (Luna County District Court, 1:30 PM)

One county, twenty-three judge assignments

Between them, the two cases record twenty-three judicial assignment events — recusal after recusal across the Third Judicial District bench, one peremptory excusal exercised by the County (Case 1) and one by the petitioners (Case 2), until the New Mexico Supreme Court designated outside judges to hear both matters: Judge Foy (Case 1) and Judge DeLaney (Case 2), with hearings conducted from Grant and Luna County courthouses. The register of actions for each case lists every assignment and recusal by date and name.

Same courthouse, opposite outcomes. Two challenges to the same approvals, filed the same day: the counsel-represented petition drew a writ of certiorari and survived dismissal; the self-represented petition was dismissed twice, finally on July 13, 2026. Whatever else the Project Jupiter record shows, it now includes a controlled experiment in what representation is worth in an American courtroom.

Check us — verify every line

  1. Open caselookup.nmcourts.gov (free, no account) and accept the data-use notice.
  2. Choose Case Number Search and enter D · 307 · CV · 202502764 — or 202502766 for the second case.
  3. Read the register of actions. Dates and document titles on this page are transcribed from those registers as of the date in the masthead.
  4. Document copies: parties access filings through the courts' re:SearchNM portal; the public may request copies from the Third Judicial District Court clerk in Las Cruces.
Disclosures & corrections. The petitioner in Case 1 is the operator of this website. That is precisely why this page confines itself to the register of actions and says nothing the court file does not say: no characterization of any ruling's correctness, no commentary on any party or counsel, no legal advice. Our satirical instrument, the Up Uranus bullshit meter, is a separate page with a separate purpose and is clearly labeled as opinion; it plays no part in this report. Spot a transcription error against the register? Post it in the Town Square and it will be corrected with a note.
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