The board of directors of a county or independent agricultural society shall consist of at least eight members. An employee of the OSU extension and the county school superintendent shall be members ex officio. Their terms of office shall be determined by the rules of the department of agriculture. Any vacancy in the board caused by death, resignation, refusal to qualify, removal from county, or other cause may be filled by the board until the society's next annual election, when a director shall be elected for the unexpired term. There shall be an annual election of directors by ballot at a time and a place fixed by the board, but this election shall not be held later than the first Saturday in December 1994, and not later than the fifteenth day of November each year thereafter, beginning in 1995. The secretary of the society shall give notice of the election, for three weeks prior to the holding thereof, in a newspaper of general circulation in the county or as provided in section 7.16 of the Revised Code, or by letter mailed to each member of the society. Only persons holding membership certificates at the close of the annual county fair, or at least fifteen calendar days before the date of election, as may be fixed by the board, may vote, unless the election is held on the fairground during the fair, in which case all persons holding membership certificates on the date and hour of the election may vote. When the election is to be held during the fair, notice of the election shall be prominently mentioned in the premium list, in addition to the notice required in a newspaper. The terms of office of the retiring directors shall expire, and those of the directors-elect shall begin, not later than the first Saturday in January 1995, and not later than the thirtieth day of November each year thereafter, beginning in 1995.

The secretary of the society shall send the name and address of each member of its board to the director of agriculture within ten days after the election.

Amended by 130th General Assembly File No. 25, HB 59, §101.01, eff. 9/29/2013.

Amended by 129th General AssemblyFile No.28, HB 153, §101.01, eff. 9/29/2011.

Effective Date: 06-20-1994 .