Section 709.03. Petition presented to board of county commissioners - proceedings

(A) Once a petition described in section 709.02 of the Revised Code is filed, the clerk of the board of county commissioners shall cause the petition to be entered upon the journal of the board at its next regular session. This entry shall be the first official act of the board on the petition. Within five days after the filing of the petition, the board shall set the date, time, and place for the hearing on the petition and shall notify the agent for the petitioners. The date for the hearing shall be not less than sixty or more than ninety days after the petition is filed with the clerk of the board.

(B) Upon being notified of the date of the hearing, the agent for the petitioners shall do all of the following:

(1) Within five days cause written notice of the filing of the petition with the board of county commissioners, the date and time of the filing, and the date, time, and place of the hearing, to be delivered to the clerk of the legislative authority of the municipal corporation to which annexation is proposed, to the clerk of each township any portion of which is included within the territory proposed for annexation, and to the clerk of the board of county commissioners of each county in which the territory proposed for annexation is located other than the county in which the petition is filed. The notice shall state the date and time when the petition was filed and the county in which it was filed and shall have attached or shall be accompanied by a copy of the petition and any attachments or documents accompanying the petition as filed. The notice shall be given by certified mail, return receipt requested, or by causing the notice to be personally served on the appropriate governmental officer, with proof of service being by affidavit of the person who delivered the notice. Within ten days after the date of completion of service, the agent for the petitioners shall file proof of service of the notice with the board of county commissioners with which the petition was filed.

(2) Within ten days send by regular mail a copy of the notice of the board of county commissioners of the hearing to all owners of property within the territory proposed to be annexed, and to all owners of property adjacent to the territory proposed to be annexed or adjacent to a road that is adjacent to that territory and located directly across that road from that territory, whose names were provided by the agent for the petitioners under division (D) of section 709.02 of the Revised Code, along with a map of the territory proposed to be annexed and a statement indicating where the full petition for annexation can be reviewed. The notice also shall include a statement that any owner who signed the petition may remove the owner's signature by filing with the clerk of the board of county commissioners a written notice of withdrawal of the owner's signature within twenty-one days after the date the agent mails the notice; the agent shall include with each mailed notice a certification of the date of its mailing for this purpose. Within ten days after the mailing of the notices, the agent shall file with the board of county commissioners with which the petition was filed, a notarized affidavit that a notice was sent by regular mail to these property owners.

(3) Cause a notice containing the substance of the petition, and the date, time, and place of the hearing, to be published at least once and at least seven days prior to the date fixed for the hearing, in a newspaper of general circulation in each county in which territory proposed for annexation is situated. Within ten days after the date of completion of the publication or at the hearing, whichever comes first, the agent for the petitioners shall file proof of publication of the notice with the board of county commissioners with which the petition was filed.

(C) Any owner who signed the annexation petition may remove that signature by filing with the clerk of the board of county commissioners a written notice of withdrawal of the owner's signature within twenty-one days after the date the agent for the petitioners mailed the notice of the hearing to the owner as provided in division (B)(2) of this section. Thereafter, signatures may be withdrawn or removed only in the manner authorized by section 709.032 of the Revised Code.

(D) Upon receiving the notice described in division (B)(1) of this section, the legislative authority of the municipal corporation shall adopt, by ordinance or resolution, a statement indicating what services the municipal corporation will provide, and an approximate date by which it will provide them, to the territory proposed for annexation, upon annexation. The statement shall be filed with the board of county commissioners at least twenty days before the date of the hearing. The municipal corporation is entitled in its sole discretion to provide to the territory proposed for annexation, upon annexation, services in addition to the services described in the ordinance or resolution it adopts under this division.

Effective Date: 2001 SB5 10-26-2001; 2005 SB107 12-20-2005