The board of county commissioners of any county, in addition to its other powers, may purchase, for cash or by installment payments, enter into lease-purchase agreements, lease with option to purchase, lease, appropriate, construct, enlarge, improve, rebuild, equip, and furnish a courthouse, county offices, jail, county home, juvenile court building, detention facility, public market houses, retail store rooms and offices, if located in a building acquired to house county offices, for which store rooms or offices the board of county commissioners may establish and collect rents or enter into leases as provided in section 307.09 of the Revised Code, county children's home, community mental health facility, community developmental disabilities facility, facilities for senior citizens, alcohol treatment and control center, other necessary buildings, public stadiums, public auditorium, exhibition hall, zoological park, public library buildings, golf courses, and off-street parking facilities determined by the board of county commissioners to be so situated as to be useful for any of such purposes or any combination of such purposes, for the use of which parking facilities the board of county commissioners may establish and collect rates, charges, or rents, and sites therefor, such real estate adjoining an existing site as is necessary for any of such purposes, including real estate necessary to afford light, air, protection from fire, suitable surroundings, ingress, and egress; such copies of any public records of such county, made or reproduced by miniature photography or microfilm, as are necessary for the protection and preservation of public records of such county.

The board of county commissioners of any county may lease for a period not to exceed forty years, pursuant to a contract providing for the construction thereof under a lease-purchase plan, those buildings, structures, and other improvements enumerated in the first paragraph of this section, and in conjunction therewith, may grant leases, easements, or licenses for lands under the control of the county for a period not to exceed forty years. Such lease-purchase plan shall provide that at the end of the lease period such buildings, structures, and related improvements, together with the land on which they are situated, shall become the property of the county without cost.

Whenever any building, structure or other improvement is to be so leased by a county, the board of county commissioners shall file in the office of the board, if the board has a full-time clerk, or in the office of the county auditor such basic plans, specifications, bills of materials, and estimates of cost with sufficient detail to afford bidders all needed information, or alternatively, shall file the following plans, details, bills of materials, and specifications:

(A) Full and accurate plans, suitable for the use of mechanics and other builders in such construction, improvement, addition, alteration, or installation;

(B) Details to scale and full sized, so drawn and represented as to be easily understood;

(C) Accurate bills showing the exact quantity of different kinds of material necessary to the construction;

(D) Definite and complete specifications of the work to be performed, together with such directions as will enable a competent mechanic or other builder to carry them out and afford bidders all needed information;

(E) A full and accurate estimate of each item of expense and of the aggregate cost thereof.

The board of county commissioners shall invite bids in the manner prescribed in sections 307.86 to 307.92 of the Revised Code. Such bids shall contain the terms upon which the builder would propose to lease the building, structure, or other improvement to the county. The form of the bid approved by the board of county commissioners shall be used and a bid shall be invalid and not considered unless such form is used without change, alteration, or addition.

Before submitting bids pursuant to this section, any builder shall have complied with sections 153.50 to 153.52 of the Revised Code.

On the day and at the place named for receiving bids for entering into lease agreements with the county, the board of county commissioners shall open the bids, and shall publicly proceed immediately to tabulate the bids. No such lease agreement shall be entered into until the bureau of workers' compensation has certified that the corporation, partnership, or person to be awarded the lease agreement has complied with Chapter 4123. of the Revised Code, and until, if the builder submitting the lowest and best bid is a foreign corporation, the secretary of state has certified that such corporation is authorized to do business in this state, and until, if the builder submitting the lowest and best bid is a person or partnership nonresident of this state, such person or partnership has filed with the secretary of state a power of attorney designating the secretary of state as its agent for the purpose of accepting service of summons in any action brought under Chapter 4123. of the Revised Code, and until the agreement is submitted to the county prosecutor and the county prosecutor's approval certified thereon. Within thirty days after the day on which the bids are received, the board of county commissioners shall investigate the bids received and shall determine that the bureau and the secretary of state have made the certifications required by this section of the builder who has submitted the lowest and best bid. Within ten days of the completion of the investigation of the bids the board of county commissioners may award the lease agreement to the builder who has submitted the lowest and best bid and who has been certified by the bureau and secretary of state as required by this section. If bidding for the lease agreement has been conducted upon the basis of basic plans, specifications, bills of materials, and estimates of costs, upon the award to the builder, the board of county commissioners, or the builder with the approval of the board of county commissioners, shall appoint an architect or engineer licensed in Ohio to prepare such further detailed plans, specifications, and bills of materials as are required to construct the buildings, structures, and other improvements enumerated in the first paragraph of this section. The board of county commissioners may reject any bid. Where there is reason to believe there is collusion or combination among the bidders, the bids of those concerned therein shall be rejected.

Amended by 131st General Assembly File No. TBD, HB 158, §1, eff. 10/12/2016.

Effective Date: 01-01-2002 .