Very odd useEffect react nextjs issue

I have an odd issue I am dealing with. I have this useEffect function which is supposed to run on my program’s start to check that they are logged in, and generate a dynamic element, named lists. Code is below:

// Initial Effect: Fetch access and lists data on component mount
useEffect(() => {
    console.log('Running on launch!')
    getAccess();
    getLists();
}, []);

I am expecting this to run getLists() everytime the page is loaded. This is because our users can interact with the lists — they can add items to it and delete items (which updates our Postgres backend). I always want to dynamically pull the latest version of lists.

The function and route are shown below.

// Fetch list data from the server
const getLists = async () => {
    const data = await fetch("/api/prospects/getLists/");
    const json_data = await data.json();
    console.log(json_data);
    setLists([...json_data]);
};

"use server";

import * as db from "../../../../lib/db"
import { NextRequest, NextResponse } from 'next/server';

export async function GET(req: NextRequest) {
    const list = await db.query(`
    SELECT id, name FROM "List"
    ORDER BY name ASC
    `, []);
    
    return NextResponse.json(list.rows);
}

However, let’s say I add an element to the list and then refresh my page. I can verify the useEffect function is being called as I see “Running on launch!” executed in my console. However, the console.log where we log the json_data will ALWAYS show the original state of the list table. If I start the program with 5 elements in list, and add a sixth, no matter how many times I refresh the page, it is showing me that my route is only returning the original 5 elements. Same issue with deletion. It never gets updated.

Importantly, I confirmed that my postgres table is indeed taking the changes in real time. So it isn’t an issue with adding or deletion.

How do I fix it so it dynamically always pulls the latest version of the List table on refresh?

It should also be important to note it works correctly in my development environment, but if I build it using npm run build on my local machine, or push it to github to my live version on vercel, then this issue happens.