Ohio Rev. Code » Chapter 717
Ohio Revised Code

Ohio Rev. Code § 717.01 (2026)

Powers of municipal corporations

✓ laws through the 2026 session (checked Sept. 2026)
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Effective:
January 1, 2016
Latest Legislation:
House Bill 64 - 131st General Assembly
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Each municipal corporation may do any of the following:

(A) Acquire by purchase or condemnation real estate with or without buildings on it, and easements or interests in real estate;

(B) Extend, enlarge, reconstruct, repair, equip, furnish, or improve a building or improvement that it is authorized to acquire or construct;

(C) Erect a crematory or provide other means for disposing of garbage or refuse, and erect public comfort stations;

(D) Purchase turnpike roads and make them free;

(E) Construct wharves and landings on navigable waters;

(F) Construct infirmaries, workhouses, prisons, police stations, houses of refuge and correction, market houses, public halls, public offices, municipal garages, repair shops, storage houses, and warehouses;

(G) Construct or acquire waterworks for supplying water to the municipal corporation and its inhabitants and extend the waterworks system outside of the municipal corporation limits;

(H) Construct or purchase gas works or works for the generation and transmission of electricity, for the supplying of gas or electricity to the municipal corporation and its inhabitants;

(I) Provide grounds for cemeteries or crematories, enclose and embellish them, and construct vaults or crematories;

(J) Construct sewers, sewage disposal works, flushing tunnels, drains, and ditches;

(K) Construct free public libraries and reading rooms, and free recreation centers;

(L) Establish free public baths and municipal lodging houses;

(M) Construct monuments or memorial buildings to commemorate the services of soldiers, sailors, and marines of the state and nation;

(N) Provide land for and improve parks, boulevards, and public playgrounds;

(O) Construct hospitals and pesthouses;

(P) Open, construct, widen, extend, improve, resurface, or change the line of any street or public highway;

(Q) Construct and improve levees, dams, waterways, waterfronts, and embankments and improve any watercourse passing through the municipal corporation;

(R) Construct or improve viaducts, bridges, and culverts;

(S)(1) Construct any building necessary for the police or fire department;

(2) Purchase fire engines or fire boats;

(3) Construct water towers or fire cisterns;

(4) Place underground the wires or signal apparatus of any police or fire department.

(T) Construct any municipal ice plant for the purpose of manufacturing ice for the citizens of a municipal corporation;

(U) Construct subways under any street or boulevard or elsewhere;

(V) Acquire by purchase, gift, devise, bequest, lease, condemnation proceedings, or otherwise, real or personal property, and thereon and thereof to establish, construct, enlarge, improve, equip, maintain, and operate airports, landing fields, or other air navigation facilities, either within or outside the limits of a municipal corporation, and acquire by purchase, gift, devise, lease, or condemnation proceedings rights-of-way for connections with highways, waterways, and electric, steam, and interurban railroads, and improve and equip such facilities with structures necessary or appropriate for such purposes. No municipal corporation may take or disturb property or facilities belonging to any public utility or to a common carrier engaged in interstate commerce, which property or facilities are required for the proper and convenient operation of the utility or carrier, unless provision is made for the restoration, relocation, or duplication of the property or facilities elsewhere at the sole cost of the municipal corporation.

(W) Provide by agreement with any regional airport authority, created under section 308.03 of the Revised Code, for the making of necessary surveys, appraisals, and examinations preliminary to the acquisition or construction of any airport or airport facility and pay the portion of the expense of the surveys, appraisals, and examinations as set forth in the agreement;

(X) Provide by agreement with any regional airport authority, created under section 308.03 of the Revised Code, for the acquisition, construction, maintenance, or operation of any airport or airport facility owned or to be owned and operated by the regional airport authority or owned or to be owned and operated by the municipal corporation and pay the portion of the expense of it as set forth in the agreement;

(Y) Acquire by gift, purchase, lease, or condemnation, land, forest, and water rights necessary for conservation of forest reserves, water parks, or reservoirs, either within or without the limits of the municipal corporation, and improve and equip the forest and water parks with structures, equipment, and reforestation necessary or appropriate for any purpose for the utilization of any of the forest and water benefits that may properly accrue therefrom to the municipal corporation;

(Z) Acquire real property by purchase, gift, or devise and construct and maintain on it public swimming pools, either within or outside the limits of the municipal corporation;

(AA) Construct or rehabilitate, equip, maintain, operate, and lease facilities for housing of elderly persons and for persons of low and moderate income, and appurtenant facilities. No municipal corporation shall deny housing accommodations to or withhold housing accommodations from elderly persons or persons of low and moderate income because of race, color, religion, sex, familial status as defined in section 4112.01 of the Revised Code, military status as defined in that section, disability as defined in that section, ancestry, or national origin. Any elderly person or person of low or moderate income who is denied housing accommodations or has them withheld by a municipal corporation because of race, color, religion, sex, familial status as defined in section 4112.01 of the Revised Code, military status as defined in that section, disability as defined in that section, ancestry, or national origin may file a charge with the Ohio civil rights commission as provided in Chapter 4112. of the Revised Code.

(BB) Acquire, rehabilitate, and develop rail property or rail service, and enter into agreements with the Ohio rail development commission, boards of county commissioners, boards of township trustees, legislative authorities of other municipal corporations, with other governmental agencies or organizations, and with private agencies or organizations in order to achieve those purposes;

(CC) Appropriate and contribute money to a soil and water conservation district for use under Chapter 940. of the Revised Code;

(DD) Authorize the board of county commissioners, pursuant to a contract authorizing the action, to contract on the municipal corporation's behalf for the administration and enforcement within its jurisdiction of the state building code by another county or another municipal corporation located within or outside the county. The contract for administration and enforcement shall provide for obtaining certification pursuant to division (E) of section 3781.10 of the Revised Code for the exercise of administration and enforcement authority within the municipal corporation seeking those services and shall specify which political subdivision is responsible for securing that certification.

(EE) Expend money for providing and maintaining services and facilities for senior citizens.

"Airport," "landing field," and "air navigation facility," as defined in section 4561.01 of the Revised Code, apply to division (V) of this section.

As used in divisions (W) and (X) of this section, "airport" and "airport facility" have the same meanings as in section 308.01 of the Revised Code.

As used in division (BB) of this section, "rail property" and "rail service" have the same meanings as in section 4981.01 of the Revised Code.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 9 cases, 1954–2017 · leading case: City of Toledo v. Corr. Comm'n of Nw. Ohio, 2017-Ohio-9149, 103 N.E.3d 209.
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City of Toledo v. Corr. Comm'n of Nw. Ohio, 2017-Ohio-9149, 103 N.E.3d 209. “02(A), the Revised Code contains multiple statutes governing municipal corporations' ability to establish and operate a detention facility. See R.”
Mead-Richer v. City of Toledo, 182 N.E.2d 846 (Ohio Ct. App. 6th Dist. 1961). · cites it 2× “It is further contended, however, that a municipality has authority vested in it by Section 4 of Article XVIII of the Ohio Constitution to “acquire, construct, own * * * and operate within * * * its corporate limits, any public utility the # * * service of which is or is to be…”
State ex rel. Buescher v. Linton, 217 N.E.2d 201 (Ohio 1966). · cites it 10× “So far as pertinent, Section 717.01, Revised Code, reads: “Each municipal corporation may: £(# * * “(K) Construct free public libraries and reading rooms Such provision has been in our statutes since before 1947.”
McDonald v. City of Columbus, 231 N.E.2d 319 (Ohio Ct. App. 10th Dist. 1967). · cites it 2× “Free recreation centers are covered in Section 717.01 (K), Revised Code. A municipality may appropriate and hold real estate for parks, etc.”
Schnoerr v. Miller, 212 N.E.2d 671 (Ohio Ct. App. 1st Dist. 1963). · cites it 2× “01, Revised Code — Powers of municipal corporations — provides in part: “Each municipal corporation may: “(F) Construct infirmaries, workhouses, prisons, police stations, houses of refuge and correction, market houses, public halls, public offices, municipal garages, repair…”
Lasko v. City of Akron, 166 N.E.2d 771 (Ohio Ct. App. 1958). · cites it 2× “; and such municipal corporation has the power under Section 717.01 (C), Revised Code, to erect a crematory or provide other means for disposing of garbage or refuse.”
Stary v. City of Brooklyn, 162 Ohio St. (N.S.) 120 (Ohio 1954). · cites it 2× “See Section 3939, General Code (Section 717.01, Revised Code). Although the Municipal Code grants power to a municipality to license certain activities and businesses, no general or specific power is granted to license or regulate house trailer parks, as such, within the…”
Vill. of Blue Ash v. City of Cincinnati, 173 Ohio St. (N.S.) 345 (Ohio 1962). · cites it 2× “In the chapter, “Specific Powers” (given to municipal corporations), Section 717.01, Revised Code, provides : “Each municipal corporation may: l i * # # ‘ ‘ (V) Acquire by purchase, gift, devise, bequest, lease, condemnation proceedings, or otherwise, real or personal property,…”
Hack v. City of Salem, 174 Ohio St. (N.S.) 383 (Ohio 1963). · cites it 2× “Section 717.01 and Section 755.12 et seq.”
Ohio Rev. Code § 717.01(F): 1 case
City of Toledo v. Corr. Comm'n of Nw. Ohio, 2017-Ohio-9149, 103 N.E.3d 209. “02(A), the Revised Code contains multiple statutes governing municipal corporations' ability to establish and operate a detention facility. See R.”
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.