Ohio Rev. Code » Chapter 163
Ohio Revised Code

Ohio Rev. Code § 163.021 (2026)

Taking necessary for public use - blight - veto

✓ current as of May 2026
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Effective:
October 10, 2007
Latest Legislation:
Senate Bill 7 - 127th General Assembly
PDF:
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(A) No agency shall appropriate real property except as necessary and for a public use. In any appropriation, the taking agency shall show by a preponderance of the evidence that the taking is necessary and for a public use.

(B) Before an agency appropriates property based on a finding that the area is a blighted area or a slum, the agency shall do both of the following:

(1) Adopt a comprehensive development plan that describes the public need for the property. The plan shall include at least one study documenting the public need. All of the costs of developing the plan shall be publicly financed.

(2) If the agency is governed by a legislative body, obtain a resolution from that legislative body affirming the public need for the property.

(C) No park board, park district, board of directors of a conservancy district, incorporated association with a purpose of establishing or preserving public parks and memorial sites, or similar park authority shall exercise any power of eminent domain to appropriate real property outside the county or counties in which the park authority is located unless the appropriation has the written approval of the legislative authority of each county in which the property is located, other than the county or counties in which the park authority is located.

(D) No agency shall appropriate property based on a finding that the parcel is a blighted parcel or that the area is a blighted area or slum by making that finding in, or in conjunction with, an emergency ordinance or resolution.

(E) If an appropriation is by a public agency that is not elected and an owner has provided the public agency with a written objection to the appropriation, the elected officials of the public agency or elected individual that appointed the unelected agency may veto that appropriation. If the unelected public agency was appointed by more than one public agency or elected individual, a majority vote of the elected officials of the appointing public agencies or elected individuals is required to veto the appropriation. If the public agency that is not elected is a state agency or instrumentality such as a university, the governor has the veto authority. The governor may delegate that authority but may not delegate that authority to the unelected agency that seeks the appropriation.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 12 cases (10 in the last 5 years), 2016–2025 · leading case: State ex rel. Ohio History Connection v. Moundbuilders Country Club Co., 2022 Ohio 4345 (Ohio 2022).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
State ex rel. Ohio History Connection v. Moundbuilders Country Club Co., 2022 Ohio 4345 (Ohio 2022). · cites it 10× “04(B)—Good-faith purchase offer—Lack of good faith in the context of eminent-domain negotiations can be shown by presenting evidence of objectively unreasonable behavior—R.C. 163.021(A)— Exercise of eminent-domain powers must be necessary and for a public use—Inquiry into…”
Sunoco Pipeline L.P. v. Teter, 2016 Ohio 7073 (Ohio Ct. App. 2016). · cites it 2× “’” {¶60} In determining whether the appropriation was necessary and for public use, the trial court indicated, pursuant to R.C. 163.021(A), Appellee has the burden to prove by a preponderance of the evidence appropriating the real property is necessary and for public use.”
Columbia Gas v. Bailey, 2023 Ohio 1245 (Ohio Ct. App. 2023). “”2 R.C. 163.021(A). See also Ohio 2 Under R.”
Columbia Gas v. Phelps Preferred Invests., L.L.C., 2022 Ohio 2540 (Ohio Ct. App. 2022). “Statutory Framework {¶11} Pursuant to R.C. 163.021(A), “No agency1 shall appropriate real property except as necessary and for a public use.”
Mill Creek Metro. Dist. Bd. of Commrs. v. Less, 2022 Ohio 1289 (Ohio Ct. App. 2022). “{¶18} Pursuant to R.C. 163.021(A), “No agency shall appropriate real property except as necessary and for a public use.”
Muskingum Cty. Convention Facilities Auth. v. Barnes Advert. Corp., 2025 Ohio 1865 (Ohio Ct. App. 2025). · cites it 6× “{¶20} Ohio law generally provides that “[n]o agency shall appropriate real property except as necessary and for a public use.”
Muskingum Cty. Convention Facilities Auth. v. Barnes Advert. Corp., 2025 Ohio 1864 (Ohio Ct. App. 2025). · cites it 6× “{¶20} Ohio law generally provides that “[n]o agency shall appropriate real property except as necessary and for a public use.”
State ex rel. Boggs v. Cleveland, 2025 Ohio 5094 (Ohio 2025). “” R.C. 163.021; see also R.C. 163.09(B). Only after the judge has determined that the government has the legal authority to take the property does a jury assess the amount of compensation that is due.”
Henry Cty. Bd. of Commrs. v. Rettig, 2020 Ohio 2787 (Ohio Ct. App. 2020). · cites it 3× “The Rettigs’ first counterclaim requested that the trial court make a declaratory judgment that the Board had abused its eminent domain power and that the Board’s actions were in violation of R.C.163.021 because the appropriation in this case was not for “public use.”
Gregory Props., Inc. v. Marchbanks (S.D. Ohio 2024). · cites it 2× “The thrust of Gregory Properties’ cause of action is that ODOT appropriated more of its property than was necessary for a public use in violation of Ohio Rev. Code §163.021(A). (ECF No. 22, PageID 323–24.”
Algoma Grp., A Gen. P'ship v. Marchbanks, 2024 Ohio 2342 (Ohio Ct. App. 2024). · cites it 2× “” R.C. 163.021(A); State ex rel. Ohio History Connection v.”
Luckey v. T&S Agriventures, L.L.C., 2025 Ohio 871 (Ohio Ct. App. 2025). “{¶ 36} R.C. 163.021(A) directs that “[n]o agency shall appropriate real property except as necessary and for a public use” and that “[i]n any appropriation, the taking agency shall show by a preponderance of the evidence that the taking is necessary and for a public use.”
Ohio Rev. Code § 163.021(A): 11 cases
State ex rel. Ohio History Connection v. Moundbuilders Country Club Co., 2022 Ohio 4345 (Ohio 2022). “04(B)—Good-faith purchase offer—Lack of good faith in the context of eminent-domain negotiations can be shown by presenting evidence of objectively unreasonable behavior—R.C. 163.021(A)— Exercise of eminent-domain powers must be necessary and for a public use—Inquiry into…”
Sunoco Pipeline L.P. v. Teter, 2016 Ohio 7073 (Ohio Ct. App. 2016). “’” {¶60} In determining whether the appropriation was necessary and for public use, the trial court indicated, pursuant to R.C. 163.021(A), Appellee has the burden to prove by a preponderance of the evidence appropriating the real property is necessary and for public use.”
Columbia Gas v. Bailey, 2023 Ohio 1245 (Ohio Ct. App. 2023). “”2 R.C. 163.021(A). See also Ohio 2 Under R.”
Columbia Gas v. Phelps Preferred Invests., L.L.C., 2022 Ohio 2540 (Ohio Ct. App. 2022). “Statutory Framework {¶11} Pursuant to R.C. 163.021(A), “No agency1 shall appropriate real property except as necessary and for a public use.”
Mill Creek Metro. Dist. Bd. of Commrs. v. Less, 2022 Ohio 1289 (Ohio Ct. App. 2022). “{¶18} Pursuant to R.C. 163.021(A), “No agency shall appropriate real property except as necessary and for a public use.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.