To amend sections 307.94, 307.95, and 307.96 and to enact section 301.231 of the Revised Code to establish certain requirements to be followed by a county in adopting or amending a charter that provides under Section 3 of Article X, Ohio Constitution, for the succession by the county to the rights, properties, and obligations of any municipal corporations or townships wholly located in the county.

Section 1. That sections 307.94, 307.95, and 307.96 be amended and section 301.231 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:

Sec. 301.231. (A) As used in this section, "successor county" means a county that has adopted or amended a charter under Section 3 of Article X, Ohio Constitution, that provides for the succession by the county to the rights, properties, and obligations of any municipal corporations or townships wholly located in the county.

(B) A successor county shall have all of the rights, powers, and responsibilities afforded by law to counties and to those municipal corporations and townships succeeded, including the right to levy and collect municipal income taxes, and shall succeed to the following interests of those municipal corporations and townships:

(1) All money, taxes, and special assessments, whether in the municipal corporation's or township's treasury or in the process of collection;

(2) All property and interests in property, whether real or personal;

(3) All rights and interests in contracts, or in securities, bonds, notes, or other instruments;

(4) All accounts receivable and rights of action.

(C) A successor county is legally obligated for all outstanding franchises, contracts, debts including bonds, notes, or other debt instruments, and other legally binding obligations for, and is legally responsible for maintaining, defending, or otherwise resolving any and all legal claims or actions of, each municipal corporation or township succeeded.

(D) Voted property tax levies shall remain in effect for the parcels of real property to which they applied prior to succession by a successor county, and succession shall not affect the proceeds of a tax levy pledged for the retirement of any debt obligation. Upon expiration of a property tax levy, the levy may only be replaced or renewed by vote of the electors of the county in the manner provided by law, to apply to real property within the boundaries of the successor county. If the millage levied inside the ten-mill limitation of each municipal corporation or township succeeded is different, the board of county commissioners of the successor county shall immediately equalize the millage for the entire county, provided that equalization does not affect the proceeds of a tax levy pledged for the retirement of any debt obligation.

Sec. 307.94.  Electors of a county, equal in number to ten per cent of the number who voted for governor in the county at the most recent gubernatorial election, may file, not later than one hundred ten days before the date of a general election, a petition with the board of county commissioners asking that the question of the adoption of a county charter in the form attached to the petition be submitted to the electors of the county. If the county charter attached to the petition provides for the succession by the county to the rights, properties, and obligations of any municipal corporations or townships wholly located in the county, the petition also shall include the signatures of not less than ten per cent of the electors of each municipal corporation and township proposed for succession who voted for governor at the most recent gubernatorial election. The petition shall be available for public inspection at the offices of the county commissioners during regular business hours until four p.m. of the one hundred eleventh day before the election, at which time the board shall, by resolution, certify the petition to the board of elections of the county for submission to the electors of the county, unless the signatures are insufficient or the petitions otherwise invalid, at the next general election.

Such electors may, in the alternative, not later than the one hundred thirtieth day before the date of a general election, file such a petition with the board of elections of the county. In such case the board of elections shall immediately proceed to determine whether the petition and the signatures on the petition meet the requirements of law and to count the number of valid signatures and to note opposite each invalid signature the reason for the invalidity. The board of elections shall complete its examination of the petition and the signatures and shall submit a report to the board of county commissioners not later than the one hundred twentieth day before the date of the general election certifying whether the petition is valid or invalid and, if invalid, the reasons for invalidity, whether there are sufficient valid signatures, and the number of valid and invalid signatures. The petition and a copy of the report to the board of county commissioners shall be available for public inspection at the board of elections. If the petition is certified by the board of elections to be valid and to have sufficient valid signatures, the board of county commissioners shall forthwith and not later than four p.m. on the one hundred eleventh day before the general election, by resolution, certify the petition to the board of elections for submission to the electors of the county at the next general election. If the petition is certified by the board of elections to be invalid or to have insufficient valid signatures, or both, the petitioners' committee may protest such findings or solicit additional signatures as provided in section 307.95 of the Revised Code, or both, or request that the board of elections proceed to establish the validity or invalidity of the petition and the sufficiency or insufficiency of the signatures in an action before the court of common pleas in the county. Such action must be brought within three days after the request has been made, and the case shall be heard forthwith by a judge or such court whose decision shall be certified to the board of elections and to the board of county commissioners in sufficient time to permit the board of county commissioners to perform its duty to certify the petition, if it is determined by the court to be valid and contain sufficient valid signatures, to the board of elections not later than four p.m. on the one hundred eleventh day prior to the general election for submission to the electors at such general election.

A county charter to be submitted to the voters by petition shall be considered to be attached to the petition if it is printed as a part of the petition. A county charter petition may consist of any number of separate petition papers. Each part shall have attached a copy of the charter to be submitted to the electors, and each part shall otherwise meet all the requirements of law for a county charter petition. Section 3501.38 of the Revised Code applies to county charter petitions.

The petitioners shall designate in the petition the names and addresses of a committee of not fewer than three nor more than five persons who will represent them in all matters relating to the petition, except that, if the county charter attached to the petition provides for the succession by the county to the rights, properties, and obligations of any municipal corporations or townships wholly located in the county, the petitioners shall designate in the petition the names and addresses of a committee of not fewer than five nor more than seven persons who will represent them in all matters relating to the petition, at least two of whom shall be electors of a municipal corporation or township proposed for succession. Notice of all matters or proceedings pertaining to such petitions may be served on the committee, or any of them, either personally or by certified mail, or by leaving it at the usual place of residence of each of them.

Sec. 307.95.  (A) When a county charter petition has been certified to the board of elections pursuant to section 307.94 of the Revised Code, the board shall immediately proceed to determine whether the petition and the signatures on the petition meet the requirements of law, including section 3501.38 of the Revised Code, and to count the number of valid signatures. If the petition provides for the succession by the county to the rights, properties, and obligations of any municipal corporations or townships wholly located in the county, the board also shall determine whether the petition includes the signatures of not less than ten per cent of the electors of each municipal corporation and township proposed for succession who voted for governor at the most recent gubernatorial election. The board shall note opposite each invalid signature the reason for the invalidity. The board shall complete its examination of the petition and the signatures not later than ten days after receipt of the petition certified by the board of county commissioners and shall submit a report to the board of county commissioners not less than one hundred days before the election certifying whether the petition is valid or invalid and, if invalid, the reasons for the invalidity, whether there are sufficient valid signatures, and the number of valid and invalid signatures. The petition and a copy of the report to the board of county commissioners shall be available for public inspection at the board of elections. If the petition is determined by the board of elections to be valid but the number of valid signatures is insufficient, the board of county commissioners shall immediately notify the committee for the petitioners, who may solicit and file additional signatures to the petition pursuant to division (E) of this section or protest the board of election's findings pursuant to division (B) of this section, or both.

(B) Protests against the board of election's elections' findings concerning the validity or invalidity of a county charter petition or any signature on such petition may be filed by any elector eligible to vote at the next general election with the board of elections not later than four p.m. of the ninety-seventh day before the election. Each protest shall identify the part of, or omission from, the petition or the signature or signatures to which the protest is directed, and shall set forth specifically the reason for the protest. A protest must be in writing, signed by the elector making the protest, and shall include the protestor's address. Each protest shall be filed in duplicate.

(C) The board of elections shall deliver or mail be by certified mail one copy of each protest filed with it to the secretary of state. The secretary of state, within ten days after receipt of the protests, shall determine the validity or invalidity of the petition and the sufficiency or insufficiency of the signatures. The secretary of state may determine whether to permit matters not raised by protest to be considered in determining such validity or invalidity or sufficiency or insufficiency, and may conduct hearings, either in Columbus or in the county where the county charter petition is filed. The determination by the secretary of state is final.

(D) The secretary of state shall notify the board of elections of the determination of the validity or invalidity of the petition and sufficiency or insufficiency of the signatures not later than four p.m. of the eighty-first day before the election. If the petition is determined to be valid and to contain sufficient valid signatures, the charter shall be placed on the ballot at the next general election. If the petition is determined to be invalid, the secretary of state shall so notify the board of county commissioners, and the board of county commissioners shall notify the committee. If the petition is determined by the secretary of state to be valid but the number of valid signatures is insufficient, the board of elections shall immediately notify the committee for the petitioners and the committee shall be allowed ten additional days after such notification to solicit and file additional signatures to the petition subject to division (E) of this section.

(E) All additional signatures solicited pursuant to division (A) or (D) of this section shall be filed with the board of elections not less than seventy days before the election. The board of elections shall examine and determine the validity or invalidity of the additional separate petition papers and of the signatures thereon, and its determination is final. No valid signature on an additional separate petition paper that is the same as a valid signature on an original separate petition paper shall be counted. The number of valid signatures on the original separate petition papers and the additional separate petition papers shall be added together to determine whether there are sufficient valid signatures. If the number of valid signatures is sufficient and the additional separate petition papers otherwise valid, the charter shall be placed on the ballot at the next general election. If not, the board of elections shall notify the county commissioners, and the commissioners shall notify the committee.

Sec. 307.96.  Except as provided by Section 3 of Article X, Ohio Constitution, a county charter or amendment shall become effective if it has been approved by the majority of the electors voting thereon, or, if the charter or amendment provides for the succession by the county to the rights, properties, and obligations of any municipal corporations or townships wholly located in the county, by a majority of the electors of the county voting thereon, and by a majority of the electors of each municipal corporation and of each township proposed for succession voting thereon. The charter or amendment shall take effect on the thirtieth day after approval, unless another date is fixed in the charter or amendment.

No charter or amendment adopted by the electors of any county shall be held ineffective or void on account of the insufficiency of the petitions by which such submission of the resolution was procured, nor shall the rejection of any charter or amendment submitted to the electors of such county, be held invalid for such insufficiency.

Any charter or charter amendment proposal that is submitted to the electors of the county shall be posted in each polling place in some location that is easily accessible to the electors.

Section 2. That existing sections 307.94, 307.95, and 307.96 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.