(A) After the hearing on a petition for annexation, the board of county commissioners shall enter upon its journal a resolution granting the annexation if it finds, based upon a preponderance of the substantial, reliable, and probative evidence on the whole record, that each of the following conditions has been met:

(1) The petition meets all the requirements set forth in, and was filed in the manner provided in, section 709.02 of the Revised Code.

(2) The persons who signed the petition are owners of real estate located in the territory proposed to be annexed in the petition, and, as of the time the petition was filed with the board of county commissioners, the number of valid signatures on the petition constituted a majority of the owners of real estate in that territory.

(3) The municipal corporation to which the territory is proposed to be annexed has complied with division (D) of section 709.03 of the Revised Code.

(4) The territory proposed to be annexed is not unreasonably large.

(5) On balance, the general good of the territory proposed to be annexed will be served, and the benefits to the territory proposed to be annexed and the surrounding area will outweigh the detriments to the territory proposed to be annexed and the surrounding area, if the annexation petition is granted. As used in division (A)(5) of this section, "surrounding area" means the territory within the unincorporated area of any township located one-half mile or less from any of the territory proposed to be annexed.

(6) No street or highway will be divided or segmented by the boundary line between a township and the municipal corporation as to create a road maintenance problem, or, if a street or highway will be so divided or segmented, the municipal corporation has agreed, as a condition of the annexation, that it will assume the maintenance of that street or highway. For the purposes of this division, "street" or "highway" has the same meaning as in section 4511.01 of the Revised Code.

(B) The board of county commissioners shall enter upon its journal a resolution granting or denying the petition for annexation within thirty days after the hearing provided for in section 709.032 of the Revised Code. The resolution shall include specific findings of fact as to whether each of the conditions listed in divisions (A)(1) to (6) of this section has been met. Upon journalization of the resolution, the clerk of the board shall send a certified copy of it to the agent for the petitioners, the clerk of the legislative authority of the municipal corporation to which annexation is proposed, the fiscal officer of each township in which the territory proposed for annexation is located, and the clerk of the board of county commissioners of each county in which the territory proposed for annexation is located other than the county in which the petition is filed. The clerk of the board shall take no further action until the expiration of thirty days after the date of journalization.

(C) After the expiration of that thirty-day period, if no appeal has been timely filed under section 709.07 of the Revised Code, the clerk of the board of county commissioners shall take one of the following actions:

(1) If the board granted the petition for annexation, the clerk shall deliver a certified copy of the entire record of the annexation proceedings, including all resolutions of the board, signed by a majority of the members of the board, the petition, map, and all other papers on file, the recording of the proceedings, if a copy is available, and exhibits presented at the hearing relating to the annexation proceedings, to the auditor or clerk of the municipal corporation to which annexation is proposed.

(2) If the board denied the petition for annexation, the clerk shall send a certified copy of its resolution denying the annexation to the agent for the petitioners and to the clerk of the municipal corporation to which the annexation was proposed.

(D) If an appeal is filed in a timely manner under section 709.07 of the Revised Code from the determination of the board of county commissioners granting or denying the petition for annexation, the clerk of the board shall take further action only in accordance with that section.

Effective Date: 10-26-2001; 12-20-2005 .