Ohio § 709.02

§ 709.02.

(A) The owners of real estate contiguous to a municipal corporation may petition for

annexation to a municipal corporation in the manner provided by sections 709.02 to 709.11 of the Revised Code . (B) Application for annexation shall be made by a petition filed with the clerk of the

board of county commissioners of the county in which the territory is located. (C) The petition required by this section shall contain the following: (1) The signatures of a majority of the owners of real estate in the territory proposed

for annexation.  The person who signs or the circulator of the petition also shall write the date

the signature was made next to the owner's name.  No signature obtained more than one hundred eighty days before the date on which

the petition is filed shall be counted in determining the number of signers of the

petition.  Any owner who signed the petition may have the signature removed before the document

is filed by delivering a signed statement to the agent for the petitioners expressing

the owner's wish to have the signature removed.  Upon receiving a signed statement, the agent for the petitioners shall strike through

the signature, causing the signature to be deleted from the petition. (2) An accurate legal description of the perimeter and an accurate map or plat of the

territory proposed for annexation; (3) The name of a person or persons to act as agent for the petitioners.  The agent for the petitioners may be an official, employee, or agent of the municipal

corporation to which annexation is proposed. (D) At the time of filing the petition for annexation, the agent for the petitioners

also shall file with the clerk of the board a list of all tracts, lots, or parcels

in the territory proposed for annexation, and all tracts, lots, or parcels located

adjacent to that territory or directly across the road from it when the road is adjacent

to it, including the name and mailing address of the owner of each tract, lot, or

parcel, and the permanent parcel number from the county auditor's permanent parcel

numbering system established under section 319.28 of the Revised Code for each tract, lot, or parcel.  This list shall not be considered to be a part of the petition for annexation, and

any error on the list shall not affect the validity of the petition. (E) As used in sections 709.02 to 709.21 , 709.38 , and 709.39 of the Revised Code , “ owner ” or “ owners ” means any adult individual who is legally competent, the state or any political

subdivision as defined in section 5713.081 of the Revised Code , and any firm, trustee, or private corporation, any of which is seized of a freehold

estate in land;  except that easements and any railroad, utility, street, and highway

rights-of-way held in fee, by easement, or by dedication and acceptance are not included

within those meanings;  and no person, firm, trustee, or private corporation, the

state, or any political subdivision, that has become an owner of real estate by a

conveyance, the primary purpose of which is to affect the number of owners required

to sign a petition for annexation, is included within those meanings.  For purposes of sections 709.02 to 709.21 , 709.38 , and 709.39 of the Revised Code , the state or any political subdivision shall not be considered an owner and shall

not be included in determining the number of owners needed to sign a petition unless

an authorized agent of the state or the political subdivision signs the petition.  The authorized agent for the state shall be the director of administrative services. An owner is determined as of the date the petition is filed with the board of county

commissioners.  If the owner is a corporation, partnership, business trust, estate, trust, organization,

association, group, institution, society, state, or political subdivision, the petition

shall be signed by a person who is authorized to sign for that entity.  A person who owns more than one parcel of real estate, either individually or as

a tenant in common or by survivorship tenancy, shall be counted as one owner for purposes

of this chapter.