Miami County's Board of Commissioners Clamp Down on Non-Disclosure Agreements
Vol. IV, No. 69 - County Commissioners Set The Standard
The Miami County Commissioners deserve credit for taking a straightforward step that too many local governments are still actively avoiding: they put work-related non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) under direct elected oversight. In doing so, they made a clear statement that economic development and public transparency should work hand-in-hand.
That matters because NDAs have become one of the easiest ways for public business to drift out of public view. When county employees, managers, or department heads are asked to sign confidentiality agreements, the instinct in too many places is to treat that as a routine administrative matter. It is not. If an agreement can affect public records, legal exposure, or the information residents are allowed to know about a major project, then elected officials should be keenly aware of these agreements before they are signed. Miami County understood that and acted accordingly.
The commissioners’ new directive does three important things. It prohibits county employees from signing work-related NDAs without commissioner approval. It bars verbal promises of confidentiality or any indication that an NDA will be signed before the board is notified. And it makes violations a real personnel issue, not a shrug-and-move-on administrative oversight. That is the kind of policy seriousness public service demands.
Just as important, the county paired this action with another sensible move: it is updating its zoning resolution to address data centers for the first time. That should not be controversial. Data centers are a major land use, and they raise legitimate questions about water, power, noise, buffering, traffic, and long-term community impact. Any local government serious about responsible growth should want those questions answered in advance, not after a project is already in motion.
This is where Miami County is setting a useful example. It is not saying “no” to economic development. It is saying “yes, but in the open.” That is a healthier posture than the one that has taken hold in far too many places, where public officials are told that silence is the price of attracting investment. That logic is backwards. A community does not build trust by asking residents to accept secrecy and hope for the best. It builds trust by making the rules clear and keeping the process visible.
Other local governments should pay attention. Cities, villages, townships, counties, and school districts across the region are increasingly being asked to participate in projects that arrive with confidential meetings, proprietary materials, and pressure to move quickly. Some of those requests may be reasonable. In reality, many are not. But even when confidentiality is justified, it should be authorized deliberately, not absorbed by routine or handled informally by staff who are trying to be helpful to a developer, consultant, or outside agency. At the very least, it’s not a decision that should be made and implemented by one individual.
That is why Miami County’s action is worth applauding beyond its own borders. It does not slow development for the sake of slowing it. It simply reasserts a basic principle: public bodies should know when public business is being made private. That principle should not be novel. Unfortunately, in 2026, it still is in far too many places.
Commissioner President Wade Westfall said there was no single event that prompted the change, only a recognition that data center development and other large-scale projects are becoming more common and that county policy needed to reflect a stronger commitment to transparency and public trust. That is the right explanation. Good government often consists of seeing where the world is going and adjusting before a problem becomes a crisis.
The county deserves credit not just for reacting well, but for acting before it had to. That is what makes this move stronger than a symbolic gesture. It establishes a standard. It says that if outside organizations want to work with Miami County government, they will do so in a way that respects the public’s right to know what is being discussed and why.
Other local governments should adopt the same standard. Require commissioner or council approval before signing NDAs. Require notification. Require a copy of the agreement. Prohibit verbal confidentiality commitments. Make the process visible, documented, and accountable. Then do the same thing in zoning and development policy: write the rules before the first big project appears at the door.
Miami County has shown that transparency and responsible economic development can coexist. The rest of local government should take the hint.
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