SpaceX Starbase Louisiana Lawsuit, Residents Say Vermilion Parish Officials Broke the Open Meetings Law Approving the Tax Deal

On October 26, 2026, three Vermilion Parish residents and a newly formed nonprofit, the Vermilion Citizens Coalition, sued the Vermilion Parish Police Jury and the Vermilion Parish Industrial Development Board in Louisiana’s 15th Judicial District Court. They allege eight violations of Louisiana’s Open Meetings Law across four meetings in July and August 2026 and ask the court to void the Development Board’s August 25 actions, including approval of SpaceX’s tax agreement. SpaceX is not a defendant. No court has blocked the project or voided any agreement, and the allegations have not been tested in court.

SpaceX Starbase Louisiana Lawsuit: Quick Facts

Detail	Information
Filed	Monday, October 26, 2026
Court	15th Judicial District Court, Vermilion Parish, Louisiana
Plaintiffs	Cheryl Choate (Pecan Island); Dr. Robert J. Young III and Rebecca C. Young (Abbeville); Vermilion Citizens Coalition, Inc. (nonprofit incorporated October 21, 2026)
Plaintiffs’ attorney	William Most (New Orleans)
Defendants	Vermilion Parish Police Jury; Industrial Development Board of the Parish of Vermilion, Louisiana, Inc.
Not a defendant	SpaceX
Alleged violations	Eight: five by the Police Jury, three by the Development Board
Meetings at issue	July 15, July 23, August 19 and August 25, 2026
Main relief sought	Declaration of the violations and an order voiding the Development Board’s August 25 actions, including the tax agreement
Case number	Not verified in the sources reviewed
Status	Newly filed; no hearing, response or ruling reported
Settlement or public claim form	None

What Is the SpaceX Louisiana Open Meetings Lawsuit About?

The suit challenges how local officials handled approvals connected to Starbase Louisiana, a proposed SpaceX spaceport on roughly 125,000 acres of former ExxonMobil marshland near Pecan Island. News reports describe the planned spaceport as a roughly $100 billion project. The plaintiffs say it is about transparency and public participation, and they are not asking the court to stop SpaceX from building. Their position is that decisions affecting the parish were made without the public notice and access the law requires.

What Do the Plaintiffs Say Was Illegal?

According to the petition as described by the Louisiana Illuminator, The Current, KPLC and other outlets:

July 15: ExxonMobil settlement and revival of a dormant board (Police Jury). The plaintiffs allege the Police Jury approved a settlement in a case involving ExxonMobil without properly listing it on the agenda. They also challenge a mid-meeting agenda change that let officials revive the Industrial Development Board, inactive since 1997, and appoint seven members. Officials, including Gov. Jeff Landry’s office, say the settlement was discussed in executive session and approved afterward in open session. The settlement terms were not disclosed in the reporting reviewed.

July 15 and August 19: no livestream (Police Jury). The petition alleges the Police Jury did not livestream either meeting. Reporting cites local coverage saying no Police Jury meeting had been livestreamed since the requirement was added to Louisiana’s open meetings law in 2024.

July 23: the revived board’s first meeting (Development Board). The plaintiffs allege inadequate public notice and that the board did not send its notice to the state commissioner of administration. The board reportedly had been dormant for nearly three decades and had no website.

August 25: approval of the SpaceX tax agreement (Development Board). The board approved a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) agreement listed under the code name “Project Osprey.” The plaintiffs say the agenda notice did not tell the public what would be decided and that the notice was not sent to the state. The board’s minutes state that notice was properly posted.

These are allegations, and the defendants have not answered them in court.

What Does the SpaceX Tax Agreement Provide?

Provision	Reported terms
Initial annual payment to local taxing authorities	$25 million
Annual increase	2%
Payment schedule	25 years
Estimated total local payments	About $800 million
Additional local infrastructure payment	$20 million
Charitable fund commitment	$25 million
Estimated value of local property-tax exemption	Nearly $23.8 billion over 25 years

These figures come from reporting on the agreement, not from a judicial finding. The broader SpaceX package has been reported at an estimated $27.5 billion in incentives, which is separate from the local payment schedule. Reporting also says the Industrial Development Board owns the land under a long-term arrangement, with SpaceX holding rights to recover it, and that not all related documents are public.

Which Louisiana Laws Apply to the Vermilion Parish SpaceX Lawsuit?

Louisiana Open Meetings Law: La. R.S. 42:19 (Notice and Agendas)

R.S. 42:19 generally requires written notice at least 24 hours before a meeting, an agenda stating the date, time and place, and agenda items described with reasonable specificity. Agendas can sometimes be changed during a meeting, but the law bars using that procedure as a subterfuge to defeat its purpose. This is the likely focus of the allegations about the “Project Osprey” label and the mid-meeting agenda change.

La. R.S. 42:23: Recording and Livestreaming

R.S. 42:23 requires qualifying parish governing authorities to livestream public proceedings, with separate recording or broadcast rules for certain other public bodies. This is the basis of the two livestream allegations against the Police Jury.

La. R.S. 42:24: Voidability and the 60-Day Deadline

R.S. 42:24 lets a court void action taken in violation of the Open Meetings Law if the statute’s requirements are met, and says a suit to void must be filed within 60 days. Timing could be a central issue. The August 25 approval was 62 days before the October 26 filing, and the July 15 meeting was more than 100 days before. The deadline depends on the statute’s trigger date, such as when minutes were posted, so the dates cannot be judged from meeting dates alone. Read the statute’s current wording and the petition before relying on any timing conclusion.

Executive Sessions and Open Votes

The Open Meetings Law allows closed sessions only for listed purposes, such as litigation strategy, and generally requires final votes to happen in open session. That is why the question of whether the ExxonMobil settlement was properly handled turns on what appeared on the agenda and what was said in open session.

Public Records

Louisiana’s Public Records Law is a separate statute that governs access to documents. The petition reportedly argues that residents cannot review what officials agreed to, so records requests may matter alongside this case.

The legal question is whether the alleged notice, agenda and livestream failures violated these requirements and justify setting aside particular decisions. A short meeting, a code name or public objection does not, by itself, establish a violation.

What Have Officials and SpaceX Said?

KPLC reported that the Police Jury said the lawsuit was sent to its legal counsel and that it would not comment on pending litigation. SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment in the Louisiana Illuminator’s October 27 report. No merits ruling or order voiding any agreement was identified as of October 29, 2026.

What Happens Next in the Vermilion Parish SpaceX Lawsuit?

The defendants will respond to the petition, and the court will examine meeting notices, agendas, minutes and recordings against the statutes. Possible outcomes include:

1. The challenged actions stand, if the court finds no violation or the claims are untimely or otherwise barred.
2. Corrective proceedings, if officials are ordered or choose to redo actions with proper notice.
3. Particular actions voided, if violations are proven and the statutory requirements for voiding are met.

Voiding the local tax agreement would not necessarily undo every other arrangement involving the state, the land or SpaceX. Reporting says the project also involves a separate land arrangement and state agreement, and those documents have not all been made public. No trial date has been set or reported.

Related AllAboutLawyer Coverage

For other disputes involving SpaceX and Louisiana, see SpaceX Political Bias Lawsuit Against California Agency Settled, Terms of the Settlement have not Yet Been Publicly Disclosed, Louisiana Accepts About $350 Million From BP Instead of $373 Million, Why the State Agreed to an Early Payout and Supreme Court Rules 8-0 For Chevron In Louisiana Wetlands Case $745M Judgment In Jeopardy. Those are separate matters and do not decide this case.

Frequently Asked Questions About the SpaceX Louisiana Open Meetings Lawsuit

Who sued over the SpaceX deal in Vermilion Parish?

Cheryl Choate, Dr. Robert J. Young III, Rebecca C. Young and the Vermilion Citizens Coalition, Inc., represented by attorney William Most.

Who are the defendants?

The Vermilion Parish Police Jury and the Industrial Development Board of the Parish of Vermilion, Louisiana, Inc. SpaceX is not named.

What court is the case in?

The 15th Judicial District Court in Louisiana. The case number was not verified.

What violations are alleged?

Eight: five by the Police Jury and three by the Development Board, involving agenda and notice problems, a code name on an agenda, missing livestreams, and notices not sent to the state, at meetings on July 15, July 23, August 19 and August 25, 2026.

What does “Project Osprey” refer to?

It is the code name that appeared on the August 25 Development Board agenda for the SpaceX tax agreement, according to reporting. Plaintiffs say it hid what was being decided.

Is the lawsuit trying to stop SpaceX from building the spaceport?

No. The plaintiffs say they want local decisions remade transparently. They seek to void local government actions, not to block SpaceX directly.

Has a judge voided the SpaceX tax deal?

No. No ruling or order voiding any agreement was reported as of October 29, 2026.

How much is the SpaceX tax deal worth?

Reporting describes local PILOT payments starting at $25 million a year, rising 2% annually for 25 years (about $800 million total), against an estimated $23.8 billion in property-tax exemptions over that period. These are reported figures, not court findings.

Could the lawsuit be too late?

The Open Meetings Law generally requires suits to void actions within 60 days, and the exact trigger date matters. This issue has not been decided.

Can residents get money from this case?

No. There is no class action, claim form or payment program.

Sources

1. Louisiana Illuminator reporting on the lawsuit and SpaceX deal
2. KPLC: Residents, citizens’ group file suit alleging illegal meetings on SpaceX, October 26, 2026
3. WRKF / WWNO: ‘Behind closed doors’: The secret SpaceX deal and the lawsuit challenging it, October 26, 2026
4. Verite News, October 27, 2026
5. Louisiana Radio Network, October 27, 2026
6. KPEL: Vermilion Parish Residents Claim Open Meetings Violations in New Lawsuit Over SpaceX Plans
7. La. R.S. 42:19, R.S. 42:23, R.S. 42:24

This article is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. AllAboutLawyer.com is a legal information website, not a law firm. The allegations described have not been proven in court.

Researched and written by Israr Ahmad, legal content researcher and founder of AllAboutLawyer.com. All facts verified against news coverage of the October 26, 2026 petition by the Louisiana Illuminator, KPLC, WRKF/WWNO, Verite News and the Louisiana Radio Network, and the official Louisiana Legislature text of R.S. 42:19, 42:23 and 42:24, as of October 29, 2026. The petition itself was not available for review. Last Updated: October 29, 2026.