OHIO Acts of the 126th General Assembly (2005-2006)
HB 23, Chapter 102
AN ACT
To amend sections 303.02, 309.09, 503.29, 504.04,
504.15, 519.02, 1901.182, 1901.31, 1907.012, 1907.20, 2151.022,
2152.02, 2505.08, 2506.01, 2506.02, 2506.03, 2506.04, 2907.01, and
4301.25, to amend, for the purpose of adopting a new section number
as indicated in parentheses, section 503.29 (503.53), to enact new
sections 503.51 and 503.52 and sections 2506.05, 2506.06, 2506.07,
2506.08, 2907.38, and 2907.39, and to repeal sections 503.51,
503.52, 503.53, 503.54, 503.55, 503.56, 503.57, 503.58, 503.59,
503.65, and 503.99 of the Revised Code to grant townships full
authority to exercise all powers of local self-government regarding
the operation of adult entertainment establishments and to adopt by
resolution and enforce within their limits any local police,
sanitary, and similar regulations regarding the operation of adult
entertainment establishments that are not in conflict with general
laws; to require the prosecuting attorney, upon the request of any
township that has adopted any resolution of that nature and on
behalf of the township, to prosecute and defend on behalf of the
township in the trial and argument of any challenge to the validity
of the resolution or to prosecute and defend on behalf of the
township actions for injunction or nuisance abatement regarding
violations of the resolution; to create an expedited appeal from
orders, adjudications, or decisions denying an application for, or
suspending or revoking, a license or permit to locate or operate
such an establishment; to create an expedited appeal in any case in
which a court determines there is a threat of restraint of
protected expression; and to create the offenses of permitting
unlawful operation of viewing booths depicting sexual conduct,
permitting a juvenile on the premises of an adult entertainment
establishment, and use by a juvenile of false information to enter
an adult entertainment establishment.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of
Ohio:
SECTION 1. That sections 303.02, 309.09,
503.29, 504.04, 504.15, 519.02, 1901.182, 1901.31, 1907.012,
1907.20, 2151.022, 2152.02, 2505.08, 2506.01, 2506.02, 2506.03,
2506.04, 2907.01, and 4301.25 be amended, section 503.29 (503.53)
be amended for the purpose of adopting a new section number as
indicated in parentheses, and new sections 503.51 and 503.52 and
sections 2506.05, 2506.06, 2506.07, 2506.08, 2907.38, and 2907.39
of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:
Sec. 303.02.
(A) Except as otherwise
provided in this section, in the interest of the public health and
safety, the board of county commissioners may regulate by
resolution, in accordance with a comprehensive plan, the location,
height, bulk, number of stories, and size of buildings and other
structures, including tents, cabins, and trailer coaches,
percentages of lot areas that may be occupied, set back building
lines, sizes of yards, courts, and other open spaces, the density
of population, the uses of buildings and other structures,
including tents, cabins, and trailer coaches, and the uses of land
for trade, industry, residence, recreation, or other purposes in
the unincorporated territory of the county. Except as otherwise
provided in this section, in the interest of the public
convenience, comfort, prosperity, or general welfare, the board, by
resolution, in accordance with a comprehensive plan, may regulate
the location of, set back lines for, and the uses of buildings and
other structures, including tents, cabins, and trailer coaches, and
the uses of land for trade, industry, residence, recreation, or
other purposes in the unincorporated territory of the county, and
may establish reasonable landscaping standards and architectural
standards excluding exterior building materials in the
unincorporated territory of the county. Except as otherwise
provided in this section, in the interest of the public
convenience, comfort, prosperity, or general welfare, the board may
regulate by resolution, in accordance with a comprehensive plan,
for nonresidential property only, the height, bulk, number of
stories, and size of buildings and other structures, including
tents, cabins, and trailer coaches, percentages of lot areas that
may be occupied, sizes of yards, courts, and other open spaces, and
the density of population in the unincorporated territory of the
county. For all these purposes, the board may divide all or any
part of the unincorporated territory of the county into districts
or zones of such number, shape, and area as the board determines.
All such regulations shall be uniform for each class or kind of
building or other structure or use throughout any district or zone,
but the regulations in one district or zone may differ from those
in other districts or zones.
For any activities permitted and regulated under Chapter 1513.
or 1514. of the Revised Code and any related processing activities,
the board of county commissioners may regulate under the authority
conferred by this section only in the interest of public health or
safety.
(B) A board of county commissioners that pursuant to this
chapter regulates adult entertainment establishments, as defined in
section 2907.39 of the Revised Code, may modify its administrative
zoning procedures with regard to adult entertainment establishments
as the board determines necessary to ensure that the procedures
comply with all applicable constitutional requirements.
Sec. 309.09. (A) The prosecuting attorney shall
be the legal adviser of the board of county commissioners, board of
elections, and all other county officers and boards, including all
tax-supported public libraries, and any of them may require written
opinions or instructions from the prosecuting attorney in matters
connected with their official duties. The prosecuting attorney
shall prosecute and defend all suits and actions which any such
officer or board directs or to which it is a party, and no county
officer may employ any other counsel or attorney at the expense of
the county, except as provided in section 305.14 of the Revised
Code.
(B)(1) The prosecuting attorney shall be the legal
adviser for all township officers, boards, and commissions,
unless, subject to division (B)(2) of this section, the
township has adopted a limited home rule government pursuant to
Chapter 504. of the Revised Code and has not entered into a
contract to have the prosecuting attorney serve as the township law
director, in which case, subject to division (B)(2) of this
section, the township law director, whether serving full-time
or part-time, shall be the legal adviser for all township officers,
boards, and commissions. When the board of township trustees finds
it advisable or necessary to have additional legal counsel, it may
employ an attorney other than the township law director or the
prosecuting attorney of the county, either for a particular matter
or on an annual basis, to represent the township and its officers,
boards, and commissions in their official capacities and to advise
them on legal matters. No such legal counsel may be employed,
except on the order of the board of township trustees, duly entered
upon its journal, in which the compensation to be paid for the
legal services shall be fixed. The compensation shall be paid from
the township fund.
Nothing in this division confers any of the powers or duties of
a prosecuting attorney under section 309.08 of the Revised Code
upon a township law director.
(2)(a) If any township in the county served by the
prosecuting attorney has adopted any resolution regarding the
operation of adult entertainment establishments pursuant to the
authority that is granted under section 503.52 of the Revised Code
or if a resolution of that nature has been adopted under section
503.53 of the Revised Code in a township in the county served by
the prosecuting attorney, all of the following apply:
(i) Upon the request of a township in the county that has
adopted, or in which has been adopted, a resolution of that nature
that is made pursuant to division (E)(1)(c) of section 503.52 of
the Revised Code, the prosecuting attorney shall prosecute and
defend on behalf of the township in the trial and argument in any
court or tribunal of any challenge to the validity of the
resolution. If the challenge to the validity of the resolution is
before a federal court, the prosecuting attorney may request the
attorney general to assist the prosecuting attorney in prosecuting
and defending the challenge and, upon the prosecuting
attorney's making of such a request, the attorney general shall
assist the prosecuting attorney in performing that service if the
resolution was drafted in accordance with legal guidance provided
by the attorney general as described in division (B)(2) of section
503.52 of the Revised Code. The attorney general shall provide this
assistance without charge to the township for which the service is
performed. If a township adopts a resolution without the legal
guidance of the attorney general, the attorney general is not
required to provide assistance as described in this division to a
prosecuting attorney.
(ii) Upon the request of a township in the county that has
adopted, or in which has been adopted, a resolution of that nature
that is made pursuant to division (E)(1)(a) of section 503.52 of
the Revised Code, the prosecuting attorney shall prosecute and
defend on behalf of the township a civil action to enjoin the
violation of the resolution in question.
(iii) Upon the request of a township in the county that has
adopted, or in which has been adopted, a resolution of that nature
that is made pursuant to division (E)(1)(b) of section 503.52 of
the Revised Code, the prosecuting attorney shall prosecute and
defend on behalf of the township a civil action under Chapter 3767.
of the Revised Code to abate as a nuisance the place in the
unincorporated area of the township at which the resolution is
being or has been violated. Proceeds from the sale of personal
property or contents seized pursuant to the action shall be applied
and deposited in accordance...
