Any person owning or in possession of an Ohio homestead or tract of land which has been owned or in the possession of the person's family for one hundred years or more may apply to the Ohio history connection to list the homestead or tract of land in a register to be maintained by the Ohio history connection. The Ohio history connection shall provide forms for such applications and shall submit applications received to the Ohio historic site preservation advisory board, which shall rule on the authenticity of the homestead or ownership or possession of the tract of land according to criteria it shall establish and make public.

Upon authentication of the homestead or tract of land by the board, the Ohio history connection shall list the homestead or tract of land on its register and provide the applicant with a plaque of suitable design determined by the Ohio history connection to be affixed to the homestead or tract of land. The plaque shall identify the homestead or tract of land as an historic homestead and specify that it is one hundred years or more old as of the date of recognition. If the date or year of construction of the homestead or purchase of tract of land is known, that date or year may appear on the plaque in lieu of the fact that the homestead or tract of land is one hundred years or more old. The plaque shall not bear the name of any member of the Ohio history connection, board, or any other public official, but may carry an appropriate emblem to be determined by the Ohio history connection.

All costs of administering the historic homestead register program, including maintenance of the register, research into the authenticity of the homestead or tract of land, plaque, and plaque design, and mailing costs, shall be determined by the Ohio history connection and shall be borne by the applicant.

The applicant shall be responsible for displaying the plaque on the homestead or tract of land in a suitable manner, and shall bear all costs of such display.

The Ohio history connection may arrange to present plaques to applicants so desiring at the Ohio history c onnection's annual meeting.

Amended by 131st General Assembly File No. TBD, HB 141, §1, eff. 9/29/2015.

Effective Date: 08-27-1976 .