Chapter 5579 | General Highway Provisions

Section 5579.01 | Appropriation of drainage rights or easements.

• Effective: September 28, 1973
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 200 - 110th General Assembly

The director of transportation, board of county commissioners, or board of township trustees, may, in connection with any road improvement, appropriate any drainage rights outside the line of a highway, or any easement, right, or interest in any property desired for any proposed improvement. In case such official or boards desire to appropriate the drainage right, easements, right, or interest in any property in connection with any existing highway, the same may be done in the manner provided by sections 5549.04 to 5549.09 of the Revised Code. Any land or property rights required for the construction of a new bridge, or for any additions or repairs to an existing bridge, may be acquired in like manner.

Section 5579.02 | Appropriation of right of way, crossing, or lands of railroad.

• Effective: September 28, 1973
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 200 - 110th General Assembly

The director of transportation, board of county commissioners, or board of township trustees may appropriate a right-of-way or crossing over railroad tracks and lands held by railway companies, whether operated by steam or electricity, and may appropriate the necessary property and right to construct such crossing above or below the grade of the railway. Such proceedings shall be had thereon as are provided for appropriation of property by municipal corporations. In case the grade of the road at such crossing is raised or lowered above or below the railroad tracks, by agreement or order of the court, the cost of raising or lowering such grade shall be apportioned between the board of county commissioners or board of township trustees and the company in the same proportion as in cases in which a grade is raised or lowered on a crossing already established or existing.

Section 5579.03 | Road as boundary line.

• Effective: October 1, 1953
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly

If a road is established as a part of the line or boundary of a township or municipal corporation, the board of township trustees of such adjoining townships and legislative authority of such municipal corporation, shall meet at a convenient place as soon after the first Monday of March as convenient, and apportion such road between the townships, or township and municipal corporation, as justice and equity require. The boards of the respective townships and legislative authority of the municipal corporation shall cause the road to be opened and improved accordingly, and shall thereafter cause their respective portions to be worked and kept in proper repair.

Section 5579.04 | Destruction of brush, briers, weeds, and thistles along highways.

• Effective: June 11, 1991
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 176 - 119th General Assembly

(A) As used in sections 5579.04 to 5579.08 of the Revised Code, "noxious weed" means shatter cane (Sorghum bicolor), Russian thistle (Salsola kali var. tenuifolia), or any plant designated a prohibited noxious weed by the director of agriculture.

(B) A board of county commissioners, a board of township trustees, or the street commissioners of a municipal corporation, having control of and being charged with the duty of repairing macadamized, graveled, or improved roads, and county engineers, township road superintendents, and the street commissioners of each municipal corporation, between the first and twentieth days of June, the first and twentieth days of August, and, if necessary, the first and twentieth days of September of each year or whenever necessary to prevent or eliminate a safety hazard, shall destroy all brush, briers, burrs, vines, noxious weeds, and, until June 1, 1996, multiflora rose, growing within the limits of a county or township road or improved, graveled, or macadamized road, street, or alley within their jurisdiction.

Section 5579.05 | Notice to destroy weeds.

• Effective: July 4, 1984
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 108 - 115th General Assembly

(A) Upon receiving written information that noxious weeds, wild parsnip, wild carrot, oxeye daisy, wild mustard, or other harmful weeds are growing on land in a township, other than land owned or managed by the department of natural resources, or park land owned or managed by the state or a political subdivision, the board of township trustees shall notify the owner, lessee, agent, or tenant having charge of the land of the receipt of the information and of the obligations imposed by this section. Within five days after the notification is given, the person notified shall cut or destroy the weeds or show the board why there is no need for doing so.

If the person in charge of the land is a resident of the township or a nonresident whose address is known, the notice shall be sent to his address by certified mail. If the person's address is unknown, it is sufficient to publish the notice once in a newspaper of general circulation in the county.

(B) Upon receiving information that wild parsnip, wild carrot, oxeye daisy, wild mustard, or noxious weeds are growing in a township on land owned or managed by the department of natural resources, or on park land owned or managed by the state or a political subdivision, the board of township trustees shall notify the county extension agent for the county in which the township is located of the receipt of the information. Within five days after the notification is given, the extension agent shall meet in committee with a person designated for this purpose by the governing authority of the land and, if the land is within a soil and water conservation district, with a supervisor of the district designated by the district supervisors, to consider ways to deal with the problem, and shall, within such five days, report the committee's findings and recommendations to the board of township trustees.

This section and sections 5579.06 and 5579.07 of the Revised Code do not apply to persons subject to section 4959.11 of the Revised Code.

Section 5579.06 | Effect of noncompliance with notice.

• Effective: July 4, 1984
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 108 - 115th General Assembly

If the owner, lessee, agent, or tenant having charge of the land mentioned in division (A) of section 5579.05 of the Revised Code fails to comply with that division, the board of township trustees shall cause the weeds to be cut or destroyed and may employ the necessary labor, materials, and equipment to perform the task. All expenses incurred shall, when approved by the board, be paid out of the township general fund from moneys not otherwise appropriated.

Section 5579.07 | Expense a lien upon land.

• Effective: July 4, 1984
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 108 - 115th General Assembly

The board of township trustees shall make a written report to the county auditor of the board's action under sections 5579.05 and 5579.06 of the Revised Code with a statement of the board's charges for its services, the amount paid for the labor, materials, and equipment, and a proper description of the premises. These amounts, when allowed, shall be entered upon the tax duplicate, shall be a lien upon the land from the date of the entry, and shall be collected as other taxes and returned to the township and placed in the township general fund.

Section 5579.08 | Cutting of briers, brush, and noxious weeds.

• Effective: December 20, 2005
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 107 - 126th General Assembly

All brush, briers, burrs, vines, and noxious weeds growing along the public highway shall be cut or destroyed between the first and twentieth days of June, the first and twentieth days of August, and, if necessary, between the first and twentieth days of September of each year or whenever necessary to prevent or eliminate a safety hazard. This work shall be done by the board of township trustees in its respective township, or by the township highway superintendent, who may employ the necessary labor to carry out this section. All expenses incurred shall, when approved by the board, be paid from the township road fund by the township fiscal officer, upon the fiscal officer's warrant.