State’s Attorney Outlines Trespass Rules as Pattern Energy Meets County on Land Agents

Montgomery County Board Development & Personnel Committee Meeting | June 1, 2026

Article Summary: Committee Chair Chad Ruppert told the Montgomery County Board Development & Personnel Committee on June 1 that he had met with the Shoals Renewables project team and was frustrated by the discussion of the county’s Code of Conduct Resolution. County Clerk Sandy Leitheiser reported no land agent names had been registered in her office, and Maggie Poteau of Pattern Energy said the company is open to complying once a process is established.

Shoals Renewables Update Key Points:

• Ruppert reported meeting with the Shoals Renewables project team the previous week and expressed frustration with the discussion relating to the Code of Conduct Resolution passed by the County Board in May.
• Leitheiser reported no land agent names had been registered in her office.
• Poteau said Pattern is open to complying once a process is established; she and State’s Attorney Brian Shaw spent several minutes on that process and on establishing a “no contact” list.
• Shaw then described actions that would constitute criminal trespass. No vote was taken on the item.

MONTGOMERY COUNTY — The Montgomery County Board’s Code of Conduct Resolution for renewable energy land agents has yet to produce a single registration, County Clerk Sandy Leitheiser told the Development & Personnel Committee on Monday, June 1, 2026 — a gap that drew a company representative, the state’s attorney and the committee chair into an extended discussion of how the rule is supposed to work in practice.

Committee Chair Chad Ruppert opened the item by reporting that he had met with the Shoals Renewables project team the previous week, and expressed frustration with the discussion relating to the Code of Conduct Resolution passed by the County Board in May.

Leitheiser then reported that no land agent names had been registered in her office.

Maggie Poteau of Pattern Energy, who attended the meeting, said Pattern is open to complying once a process is established. Poteau and State’s Attorney Brian Shaw spent several minutes discussing that process, as well as the process for establishing a “no contact” list.

Shaw then described actions that would constitute criminal trespass.

No Action Taken

The minutes record no motion, no vote and no formal action on the Shoals Renewables item. It appeared on the agenda as an update, with the committee slated to review and discuss.

The minutes do not reproduce the substance of what Shaw told the committee about criminal trespass, do not detail the process he and Poteau discussed, and do not record what was said at Ruppert’s meeting with the project team the previous week or what specifically he found frustrating about the discussion of the resolution. They do not state a resolution number for the Code of Conduct Resolution, its adoption date beyond the month, or its requirements.

What the Record Establishes

Read on its own terms, the exchange establishes a narrow set of facts: a resolution adopted by the county board in May contemplates land agent names being registered with the county clerk; as of June 1, none had been; the representative of a company present at the meeting said her company would comply once a process exists; and the county’s chief prosecutor walked the room through where the line of criminal trespass falls.

Poteau is identified in the minutes’ attendance list as “Maggie Poteau of Pattern Energy.” The minutes do not state the relationship between Pattern Energy and Shoals Renewables, and the two names are used separately in the record.

The Shoals Renewables item was the eighth of ten items before the committee. It was followed by an update on Elm Lawn Solar, another renewable energy project, and preceded by updates on the county’s Small Biz Grant and DCEO Energy Transition Grant programs. Earlier in the same meeting, the committee recommended approval of an engagement agreement with the law firm Heyl Royster for wind and solar ordinance review.

Present were Ruppert, Russ Beason, Jeremy Jones and Chris Daniels. Doug Donaldson was absent. Also attending were County Board Administrator Mike Plunkett, Circuit Clerk Daniel Robbins, MCEDC Executive Director Kaitlyn Fath, Leitheiser, Shaw, Attorney Andrew Keyt virtually, and Poteau.