OHIO LEGISLATIVE SERVICE COMMISSION
Office of Research Legislative Budget
www.lsc.ohio.gov and Drafting Office
H.B. 331 Bill Analysis
135th General Assembly
Click here for H.B. 331’s Fiscal Note
Version: As Passed by the House
Primary Sponsors: Reps. Mathews and T. Young
Effective date:
Daniel DeSantis, Research Analyst
SUMMARY
 Creates a new pathway to village dissolution by doing the following:
 Requiring, about every ten years, each county to evaluate the villages located within
the county to determine if the village is providing sufficient services and fielding
candidates for all elected village offices.
 Requiring the question of dissolution to be placed on the ballot if these factors are
not satisfied.
DETAILED ANALYSIS
Village dissolution
Current law sets forth three pathways to dissolving a village; each is described in LSC’s
Members Brief on Village Dissolution (PDF), available at www.lsc.ohio.gov. The bill creates a
fourth pathway applicable to all villages that requires, about every ten years, each county to
evaluate the villages located within the county; if certain factors are not satisfied, the question
of whether the village should dissolve is put to the voters.
Evaluation
The county auditor, county treasurer, and a county commissioner jointly must evaluate
every village located within the county. For a village located in multiple counties, the evaluation
is performed by the county wherein the largest portion of the village’s population resides. The
county must complete its evaluation by December 31 of the year after the results of a federal
decennial census is released (e.g., if results are released in 2031, the evaluation must be complete
by the end of 2032). The evaluation spans the roughly ten-year period beginning when the
previous results were released and ending when the most recent results were released.
June 14, 2024
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
Factors
The county must determine two things. First, whether the village itself provided, or
contracted with a private nongovernmental entity to provide, at least five of the following services:
 Police protection;
 Fire-fighting services;
 Garbage collection;
 Water or sewer service;
 Emergency medical services;
 Road maintenance;
 Park services or other recreation services;
 Human services;
 A public library established and operated solely by the village.
Second, the county must determine whether, at each election where an elected village position
was voted upon, at least one candidate appeared on the ballot for each elected village position.
Finding
The county must notify the village of its finding. If the village satisfied the factors, the
process ends. If the county finds the village did not satisfy the factors, the village is prohibited
from creating any new liabilities, which is current practice under the other pathways to
dissolution. And, the county must file its finding with the board of elections of the county where
the largest portion of the village’s population resides. The board then submits the question of
dissolution to the voters at the next general election that is at least 90 days after the board
received the finding.
If the voters vote in favor of a dissolution, the dissolution proceeds in accordance with
the existing procedures, which are described in LSC’s Members Brief on Village Dissolution (PDF),
available at www.lsc.ohio.gov.1
HISTORY
Action Date
Introduced 11-15-23
Reported, H. Government Oversight 05-08-24
Passed House (88-3) 06-12-24
ANHB0331PH-135/ts
1 R.C. 703.331, with conforming changes in 703.31, 703.32, and 703.33.
P a g e |2 H.B. 331
As Reported by House Government Oversight


Statutes affected:
As Introduced: 703.21
As Reported By House Committee: 703.31, 703.32, 703.33
As Passed By House: 703.31, 703.32, 703.33