Ohio Rev. Code » Chapter 709
Ohio Revised Code

Ohio Rev. Code § 709.03 (2026)

Petition presented to board of county commissioners - proceedings

✓ current as of May 2026
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Effective:
December 20, 2005
Latest Legislation:
Senate Bill 5 (GA 124), Senate Bill 107 (GA 126)
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(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.

The Legislative Service Commission presents the text of this section as a composite of the section as amended by multiple acts of the General Assembly. This presentation recognizes the principle stated in R.C. 1.52(B) that amendments are to be harmonized if reasonably capable of simultaneous operation.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 36 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1956–2025 · leading case: In Re Petition for Annexation of 162.631 Acres, 556 N.E.2d 200 (Ohio Ct. App. 1988).
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In Re Petition for Annexation of 162.631 Acres, 556 N.E.2d 200 (Ohio Ct. App. 1988). · cites it 4× “02 states that: “The owners of real estate adjacent to a municipal corporation may, at their option, cause such territory to be annexed thereto, in the manner provided by sections 709.”
State ex rel. Albright v. Court of Common Pleas, 572 N.E.2d 1387 (Ohio 1991). · cites it 2× “R.C. 709.03 through 709.033 prescribe the procedures for conducting the hearing and approving or disapproving the annexation petition, and R.”
State ex rel. Smith v. Frost, 656 N.E.2d 673 (Ohio 1995). · cites it 2× “45 of the Revised Code for the election of a merger commission for the merger of one or more municipal corporations and the unincorporated territory of a township, no petition for the annexation of any part of the unincorporated territory of the township shall be filed with a…”
Miami Twp. Bd. of Trs. v. Caton, 556 N.E.2d 1140 (Ohio 1990). · cites it 2× “” The municipal corporation becomes involved in the annexation process following a landowners’ petition in several ways, including: (i) delivery of the notice to the clerk of the municipal legislative authority of the filing of the annexation petition (R.C. 709.03), (ii)…”
State ex rel. Chagrin Falls v. Geauga Cty. Bd. of Commrs., 2002 Ohio 4906 (Ohio 2002). “Effective October 26, 2001, the provisions relating to the time for a hearing on an annexation petition are contained in R.C. 709.03(A). 2001 Am.Sub.S.B. No. 5. SUPREME COURT OF OHIO 709.”
State ex rel. Butler Twp. Bd. of Trs. v. Montgomery Cnty. Bd. of Cnty. Commissioners, 858 N.E.2d 1193 (Ohio 2006). “, R.C. 709.03, 709.031, 709.032, and 709.033.”
City of Cleveland v. City of Fairview Park, 545 N.E.2d 1287 (Ohio Ct. App. 1988). “02 further provides: “The owners of real estate adjacent to a municipal corporation may, at their option, cause such territory to be annexed thereto, in the manner provided by sections 709.03 to 709.11 of the Revised Code.”
Garverick v. Hoffman, 262 N.E.2d 695 (Ohio 1970). · cites it 2× “-07 provided: “If, within sixty days from the filing of the transcript, map or plat, and petition in his office as required by Section 709.03 of the Revised Code, the auditor or clerk of the annexing municipal corporation receives notice from any person interested that such…”
Tuscarawas Twp. Bd. of Trs. v. Stark Cty. Bd. of Commrs., 2011 Ohio 5581 (Ohio Ct. App. 2011). · cites it 4× “{¶ 29} “(3) The municipal corporation to which the territory is proposed to be annexed has complied with division (D) of section 709.03 of the Revised Code. {¶ 30} “(4) The territory proposed to be annexed is not unreasonably large.”
Oberlin v. Lorain Cty. Jt. Vocational Sch. Dist. Bd. of Edn., 2019 Ohio 3977 (Ohio Ct. App. 2019). “02; R.C. 709.03; R.C. 709.022. While it may be true that the expedited type-I process is the most efficient means to achieve the intended result—the annexation of JVS’s property, JVS was not obligated by the contract to sign such a petition.”
In Re Annexation of Territory in Olmsted Twp., 470 N.E.2d 912 (Ohio Ct. App. 1984). · cites it 3× “The petition for annexation was filed with the board of county commissioners on November 7, 1980 pursuant to R.C. 709.03. The petition was set for hearing as required by law and the hearing was held February 23, 1981.”
State ex rel. Lewis v. Court of Common Pleas, 556 N.E.2d 1184 (Ohio 1990). · cites it 3× “” R.C. 709.03 provides in part: “The petition required by section 709.”
Show all 36 citing cases →
Ohio Rev. Code § 709.03(A): 1 case
State ex rel. Chagrin Falls v. Geauga Cty. Bd. of Commrs., 2002 Ohio 4906 (Ohio 2002). “Effective October 26, 2001, the provisions relating to the time for a hearing on an annexation petition are contained in R.C. 709.03(A). 2001 Am.Sub.S.B. No. 5. SUPREME COURT OF OHIO 709.”
Ohio Rev. Code § 709.03(D): 3 cases
In Re Annexation of Territory in Olmsted Twp., 470 N.E.2d 912 (Ohio Ct. App. 1984). “The petition for annexation was filed with the board of county commissioners on November 7, 1980 pursuant to R.C. 709.03. The petition was set for hearing as required by law and the hearing was held February 23, 1981.”
Reywal Co. v. City of Dublin, 933 N.E.2d 1164 (Ohio Ct. App. 2010).
City of All. v. Lexington Twp. Bd. of Trs., 923 N.E.2d 1172 (Ohio Ct. App. 2009).
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