2006 Ohio Revised Code - 504.14. Initiative and referendum petitions.

§ 504.14. Initiative and referendum petitions.
 

In a township that adopts a limited home rule government, resolutions may be proposed by initiative petition by the electors in the unincorporated area of the township and adopted by election by these electors, and resolutions adopted by the board of township trustees may be submitted to these electors for their approval or rejection by referendum, under the same circumstances and in the same manner as provided by sections 731.28 to 731.40 of the Revised Code for municipal corporations, except that both of the following apply: 

(A) Initiative and referendum petitions shall be filed with the township fiscal officer, who shall perform the duties imposed under those sections upon the city auditor or village clerk. 

(B) Initiative and referendum petitions shall contain the signatures of not less than ten per cent of the total number of electors in the unincorporated area of the township who voted for the office of governor at the most recent general election for that office in that area of the township. 
 

HISTORY: 144 v H 77 (Eff 9-17-91); 145 v H 580 (Eff 3-9-95); 148 v H 187. Eff 9-20-99; 151 v S 107, § 1, eff. 12-20-05.
 

The provisions of § 3 of H.B. 256 (150 v  - ) read as follows: 

Section 3. (A) Notwithstanding any provisions of sections 504.14 and 731.29 of the Revised Code to the contrary, for one year after the effective date of this act, in any township with a population of fifty thousand or more that has adopted a limited home rule government, at the option of the board of township trustees, a referendum petition for the approval or rejection of a resolution adopted by the board may be submitted to the electors in the unincorporated territory of the township at a special election occurring earlier than the next general election. However, the special election must occur subsequent to seventy-five days after the township clerk certified the sufficiency and validity of the referendum petition to the board of elections. If a special election is chosen, the board of township trustees shall adopt a resolution so stating, and the clerk shall submit that resolution along with the referendum petition and the resolution that is being submitted for approval or rejection to the board of elections. Expenses of the special election shall be paid as provided in section 3501.17 of the Revised Code. 

(B) Division (A) of this section shall apply only to a referendum petition that was certified as to its sufficiency and validity by a township clerk to a board of elections prior to the effective date of this act and that is pending submission to the electors in the unincorporated territory of the township on the effective date of this act. 

 

Effect of Amendments

151 v S 107, effective December 20, 2005, in (A), substituted "fiscal officer" for "clerk".