Ohio Rev. Code » Chapter 3311
Ohio Revised Code

Ohio Rev. Code § 3311.22 (2026)

Transfer of school district territory

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Effective:
September 29, 2013
Latest Legislation:
House Bill 59 - 130th General Assembly
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A governing board of an educational service center may propose, by resolution adopted by majority vote of its full membership, or qualified electors of the area affected equal in number to at least fifty-five per cent of the qualified electors voting at the last general election residing within that portion of a school district, or districts proposed to be transferred may propose, by petition, the transfer of a part or all of one or more local school districts to another local school district or districts within the territory of the educational service center. Such transfers may be made only to local school districts adjoining the school district that is proposed to be transferred, unless the board of education of the district proposed to be transferred has entered into an agreement pursuant to section 3313.42 of the Revised Code, in which case such transfers may be made to any local school district within the territory of the educational service center.

When a governing board of an educational service center adopts a resolution proposing a transfer of school territory it shall forthwith file a copy of such resolution, together with an accurate map of the territory described in the resolution, with the board of education of each school district whose boundaries would be altered by such proposal. A governing board of an educational service center proposing a transfer of territory under the provisions of this section shall at its next regular meeting that occurs not earlier than thirty days after the adoption by the governing board of a resolution proposing such transfer, adopt a resolution making the transfer effective at any time prior to the next succeeding first day of July, unless, prior to the expiration of such thirty-day period, qualified electors residing in the area proposed to be transferred, equal in number to a majority of the qualified electors voting at the last general election, file a petition of referendum against such transfer.

Any petition of transfer or petition of referendum filed under the provisions of this section shall be filed at the office of the educational service center superintendent. The person presenting the petition shall be given a receipt containing thereon the time of day, the date, and the purpose of the petition.

The educational service center superintendent shall cause the board of elections to check the sufficiency of signatures on any petition of transfer or petition of referendum filed under this section and, if found to be sufficient, the superintendent shall present the petition to the educational service center governing board at a meeting of the board which shall occur not later than thirty days following the filing of the petition.

Upon presentation to the educational service center governing board of a proposal to transfer territory as requested by petition of fifty-five per cent of the qualified electors voting at the last general election or a petition of referendum against a proposal of the county board to transfer territory, the governing board shall promptly certify the proposal to the board of elections for the purpose of having the proposal placed on the ballot at the next general or primary election which occurs not less than ninety days after the date of such certification, or at a special election, the date of which shall be specified in the certification, which date shall not be less than ninety days after the date of such certification. Signatures on a petition of transfer or petition of referendum may be withdrawn up to and including the above mentioned meeting of the educational service center governing board only by order of the board upon testimony of the petitioner concerned under oath before the board that the petitioner's signature was obtained by fraud, duress, or misrepresentation.

If a petition is filed with the educational service center governing board which proposes the transfer of a part or all of the territory included in a resolution of transfer previously adopted by the educational service center governing board, no action shall be taken on such petition if within the thirty-day period after the adoption of the resolution of transfer a referendum petition is filed. After the election, if the proposed transfer fails to receive a majority vote, action on such petition shall then be processed under this section as though originally filed under the provisions hereof. If no referendum petition is filed within the thirty-day period after the adoption of the resolution of transfer, no action shall be taken on such petition.

If a petition is filed with the educational service center governing board which proposes the transfer of a part or all of the territory included in a petition previously filed by electors no action shall be taken on such new petition.

Upon certification of a proposal to the board or boards of elections pursuant to this section, the board or boards of elections shall make the necessary arrangements for the submission of such question to the electors of the county or counties qualified to vote thereon, and the election shall be conducted and canvassed and the results shall be certified in the same manner as in regular elections for the election of members of a board of education.

The persons qualified to vote upon a proposal are the electors residing in the district or districts containing territory that is proposed to be transferred. If the proposed transfer be approved by at least a majority of the electors voting on the proposal, the educational service center governing board shall make such transfer at any time prior to the next succeeding first day of July. If the proposed transfer is not approved by at least a majority of the electors voting on the proposal, the question of transferring any property included in the territory covered by the proposal shall not be submitted to electors at any election prior to the first general election the date of which is at least two years after the date of the original election, or the first primary election held in an even-numbered year the date of which is at least two years after the date of the original election. A transfer shall be subject to the approval of the receiving board or boards of education, unless the proposal was initiated by the educational service center governing board, in which case, if the transfer is opposed by the board of education offered the territory, the local board may, within thirty days, following the receipt of the notice of transfer, appeal to the state board of education which shall then either approve or disapprove the transfer.

Following an election upon a proposed transfer initiated by a petition the board of education that is offered territory shall, within thirty days following receipt of the proposal, either accept or reject the transfer.

When an entire school district is proposed to be transferred to two or more school districts and the offer is rejected by any one of the receiving boards of education, none of the territory included in the proposal shall be transferred.

Upon the acceptance of territory by the receiving board or boards of education the educational service center governing board offering the territory shall file with the county auditor and with the state board of education an accurate map showing the boundaries of the territory transferred.

Upon the making of such transfer, the net indebtedness of the former district from which territory was transferred shall be apportioned between the acquiring school district and that portion of the former school district remaining after the transfer in the ratio which the assessed valuation of the territory transferred to the acquiring school district bears to the assessed valuation of the original school district as of the effective date of the transfer. As used in this section "net indebtedness" means the difference between the par value of the outstanding and unpaid bonds and notes of the school district and the amount held in the sinking fund and other indebtedness retirement funds for their redemption.

Upon the making of any transfer under this section, the funds of the district from which territory was transferred shall be divided equitably by the educational service center governing board between the acquiring district and any part of the original district remaining after the transfer.

If an entire district is transferred the board of education of such district is thereby abolished or if a member of the board of education lives in that part of a school district transferred the member becomes a nonresident of the school district from which the territory was transferred and such member ceases to be a member of the board of education of such district.

The legal title of all property of the board of education in the territory transferred shall become vested in the board of education of the school district to which such territory is transferred.

Subsequent to June 30, 1959, if an entire district is transferred, foundation program moneys accruing to a district accepting school territory under the provisions of this section or former section 3311.22 of the Revised Code, shall not be less, in any year during the next succeeding three years following the transfer, than the sum of the amounts received by the districts separately in the year in which the transfer was consummated.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 16 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1955–2022 · leading case: League of Women Voters of Ohio v. Ohio Redistricting Comm. (Slip Opinion), 2022-Ohio-65, 192 N.E.3d 379.
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League of Women Voters of Ohio v. Ohio Redistricting Comm. (Slip Opinion), 2022-Ohio-65, 192 N.E.3d 379. · cites it 2× “, R.C. 3311.22. {¶ 154} Article XI, Section 6(B) requires that “[t]he statewide proportion of districts whose voters, based on statewide state and federal partisan general election results during the last ten years, favor each political party shall correspond closely to the…”
Garfield Heights City Sch. Dist. v. State Bd. of Educ., 619 N.E.2d 429 (Ohio Ct. App. 10th Dist. 1992). “R.C. 3311.22 provides for a transfer of school territory within a county, *126 from one local school district to another.”
Cincinnati City Sch. Dist. v. State Bd. of Educ., 680 N.E.2d 1061 (Ohio Ct. App. 10th Dist. 1996). “24 are different from those for transfers pursuant to R.C. 3311.22 and 3311.231. Harrell, 46 Ohio St.”
State ex rel. Harrell v. Bd. of Educ., 544 N.E.2d 924 (Ohio 1989). · cites it 4× “Streetsboro argues that Carmen Celigoj’s signature on the first petition was properly invalidated because, like the initiating petitions for placing proposed territory transfers on the ballot in R.C. 3311.22 (transfer between local *61 school districts within the county) and R.”
Adams Cnty./Ohio Valley Sch. Dist. Bd. of Educ. v. South Cent. Ohio Educ. Serv. Ctr. Governing Bd., 814 N.E.2d 1239 (Ohio Ct. App. 4th Dist. 2004). · cites it 2× “At the time, R.C. 3311.22 gave county boards of education 3 the authority to “transfer a part or all of a school district of the county school district to an *260 adjoining district or districts of the county school district.”
State, Ex Rel. Kohr v. Hooker, 152 N.E.2d 788 (Ohio Ct. App. 1958). “To use another analogy, several sections of the Revised Code pertaining to the transfer of property (Sections 3311.22, 3311.23 and 3311.24) provide that when transfer of territory from one school district to another is complete, “the legal title of the school property in the…”
Garfield Heights City Sch. Dist. v. State Bd. of Educ., 646 N.E.2d 163 (Ohio 1995). “For instance, other statutes providing for territorial transfers specifically grant the receiving school district board of education the right to accept or reject the transfer (see R.C. 3311.22 and 3311.231), or otherwise make the issuance of a transfer order subject to the…”
State Ex Rel. Muter v. Mercer Cnty. Bd. of Educ., 175 N.E.2d 305 (Ohio Ct. App. 1959). · cites it 18× “This act amended Section 3311.22, and enacted Section 3311.”
Anderson v. Bd. of Educ., 201 N.E.2d 909 (Ohio Ct. App. 1962). · cites it 18× “” With respect to plaintiff’s first contention that the petition is not in proper form, reference to Section 3311.22, Revised Code, pursuant to which the petition for transfer was filed, shows that the statute does not prescribe any particular form of petition except that it…”
Wadsworth v. Ottawa Cnty. Bd. of Educ., 161 N.E.2d 404 (Ohio Ct. App. 1958). “261, Revised Code, governing procedure followed by electors referred to as “Salem-Oak Harbor petition,” the pertinent portions of such section being: “Notwithstanding Sections 3311.22, 3311.23 and 3311.26 of the Revised Code, until January 1, 1959, a county board of education…”
Guthery v. Bd. of Educ., 164 Ohio St. (N.S.) 293 (Ohio 1955). · cites it 6× “The sole question of law presented is whether, under Section 3311.22, Revised Code, a county board of education has .”
Bd. of Educ. v. Bd. of Educ., 167 Ohio St. (N.S.) 543 (Ohio 1958). · cites it 2× “The controlling statute in this case, Section 3311.22, Revised Code (Recodification Act of 1953), conferred on county boards of education the authority to transfer territory and read in part as follows: “A county board of education may * * * transfer a part or all of a school…”
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