(A) Whenever the director of development has determined that there is need for a housing authority in any portion of any county that comprises two or more political subdivisions or portions of two or more political subdivisions but is less than all the territory within the county, a metropolitan housing authority shall be declared to exist, and the territorial limits of the authority shall be defined, by a letter from the director. The director shall issue a determination from the department of development declaring that there is need for a housing authority within those territorial limits after finding either of the following:

Ask a legal question, get an answer ASAP!
Click here to chat with a lawyer about your rights.

(1) Unsanitary or unsafe inhabited housing accommodations exist in that area;

(2) There is a shortage of safe and sanitary housing accommodations in that area available to persons who lack the amount of income that is necessary, as determined by the director, to enable them, without financial assistance, to live in decent, safe, and sanitary dwellings without congestion.

In determining whether dwelling accommodations are unsafe or unsanitary, the director may take into consideration the degree of congestion, the percentage of land coverage, the light, air, space, and access available to the inhabitants of the dwelling accommodations, the size and arrangement of rooms, the sanitary facilities, and the extent to which conditions exist in the dwelling accommodations that endanger life or property by fire or other causes.

The territorial limits of a metropolitan housing authority as defined by the director under this division shall be fixed for the authority upon proof of a letter from the director declaring the need for the authority to function in those territorial limits. Any such letter from the director, any certificate of determination issued by the director, and any certificate of appointment of members of the authority shall be admissible in evidence in any suit, action, or proceeding.

A certified copy of the letter from the director declaring the existence of a metropolitan housing authority and the territorial limits of its district shall be immediately forwarded to each appointing authority. A metropolitan housing authority shall consist of members who are residents of the territory in which they serve.

(B)(1) Except as otherwise provided in division (C), (D), (E), or (F) of this section, the members of a metropolitan housing authority shall be appointed as follows:

(a)(i) In a district in a county in which a charter has been adopted under Article X, Section 3 of the Ohio Constitution, and in which the most populous city is not the city with the largest ratio of housing units owned or managed by the authority to population, one member shall be appointed by the probate court, one member shall be appointed by the court of common pleas, one member shall be appointed by the board of county commissioners, one member shall be appointed by the chief executive officer of the city that has the largest ratio of housing units owned or managed by the authority to population, and two members shall be appointed by the chief executive officer of the most populous city in the district.

(ii) If, in a district that appoints members pursuant to division (B)(1)(a) of this section, the most populous city becomes the city with the largest ratio of housing units owned or managed by the authority to population, when the term of office of the member who was appointed by the chief executive officer of the city with the largest ratio expires, that member shall not be reappointed, and the membership of the authority shall be as described in division (B)(1)(b) of this section.

(b) In any district other than one described in division (B)(1)(a) of this section, one member shall be appointed by the probate court, one member shall be appointed by the court of common pleas, one member shall be appointed by the board of county commissioners, and two members shall be appointed by the chief executive officer of the most populous city in the district.

(2) At the time of the initial appointment of the authority, the member appointed by the probate court shall be appointed for a period of four years, the member appointed by the court of common pleas shall be appointed for three years, the member appointed by the board of county commissioners shall be appointed for two years, one member appointed by the chief executive officer of the most populous city in the district shall be appointed for one year, and the other member appointed by the chief executive officer of the most populous city in the district shall be appointed for five years.

If appointments are made under division (B)(1)(a) of this section, the member appointed by the chief executive officer of the city in the district that is not the most populous city, but that has the largest ratio of housing units owned or managed by the authority to population, shall be appointed for five years.

After the initial appointments, all members of the authority shall be appointed for five-year terms, and any vacancy occurring upon the expiration of a term shall be filled by the appointing authority that made the initial appointment.

(3) For purposes of this division, population shall be determined according to the last preceding federal census.

(C) For any metropolitan housing authority district that contained, as of the 1990 federal census, a population of at least one million, two members of the authority shall be appointed by the legislative authority of the most populous city in the district, two members shall be appointed by the chief executive officer of the most populous city in the district, and one member shall be appointed by the chief executive officer, with the approval of the legislative authority, of the city in the district that has the second highest number of housing units owned or managed by the authority.

At the time of the initial appointment of the authority, one member appointed by the legislative authority of the most populous city in the district shall be appointed for three years, and one such member shall be appointed for one year; the member appointed by the chief executive officer of the city with the second highest number of housing units owned or managed by the authority shall be appointed, with the approval of the legislative authority, for three years; and one member appointed by the chief executive officer of the most populous city in the district shall be appointed for three years, and one such member shall be appointed for one year. Thereafter, all members of the authority shall be appointed for three-year terms, and any vacancy shall be filled by the same appointing power that made the initial appointment. At the expiration of the term of any member appointed by the chief executive officer of the most populous city in the district before March 15, 1983, the chief executive officer of the most populous city in the district shall fill the vacancy by appointment for a three-year term. At the expiration of the term of any member appointed by the board of county commissioners before March 15, 1983, the chief executive officer of the city in the district with the second highest number of housing units owned or managed by the authority shall, with the approval of the municipal legislative authority, fill the vacancy by appointment for a three-year term. At the expiration of the term of any member appointed before March 15, 1983, by the court of common pleas or the probate court, the legislative authority of the most populous city in the district shall fill the vacancy by appointment for a three-year term.

After March 15, 1983, at least one of the members appointed by the chief executive officer of the most populous city shall be a resident of a dwelling unit owned or managed by the authority. At least one of the initial appointments by the chief executive officer of the most populous city, after March 15, 1983, shall be a resident of a dwelling unit owned or managed by the authority. Thereafter, any member appointed by the chief executive officer of the most populous city for the term established by this initial appointment, or for any succeeding term, shall be a person who resides in a dwelling unit owned or managed by the authority. If there is an elected, representative body of all residents of the authority, the chief executive officer of the most populous city shall, whenever there is a vacancy in this resident term, provide written notice of the vacancy to the representative body. If the representative body submits to the chief executive officer of the most populous city, in writing and within sixty days after the date on which it was notified of the vacancy, the names of at least five residents of the authority who are willing and qualified to serve as a member, the chief executive officer of the most populous city shall appoint to the resident term one of the residents recommended by the representative body. At no time shall residents constitute a majority of the members of the authority.

(D)(1) For any metropolitan housing authority district that is located in a county that has, according to the most recent federal decennial census, a population greater than seven hundred thousand but less than nine hundred thousand, the members of the metropolitan housing authority shall be selected as follows:

(a) One member shall be appointed by the probate court.

(b) One member shall be appointed by the court of common pleas.

(c) One member shall be appointed by the board of county commissioners.

(d) Two members shall be appointed by the mayor of the most populous city in the district, subject to approval by city council. At least one of the initial appointments by the mayor shall be a resident of a dwelling unit owned or managed by the authority. Thereafter, any member appointed by the mayor of the most populous city for the term established by the initial appointment, or for any succeeding term, shall be a person who resides in a dwelling unit owned or managed by the authority. If there is an elected, representative body of all residents of the authority, the mayor of the most populous city shall, whenever there is a vacancy in the resident term, provide written notice of the vacancy to the representative body. If the representative body submits to the mayor of the most populous city, in writing and within sixty days after the date on which it was notified of the vacancy, the names of at least five residents of the authority who are willing and qualified to serve as a member, the mayor of the most populous city shall appoint to the resident term one of the residents recommended by the representative body. At no time shall residents constitute a majority of the members of the authority.

(e) One member shall be nominated by the township association of the county. The name of the nominee submitted by the township association of the county shall be sent to the board of county commissioners and the executive director of the metropolitan housing authority, if applicable. The board of county commissioners shall accept or reject the nominee.

(f) One member shall be nominated by the municipal league of the county. The name of the nominee submitted by the municipal league of the county shall be sent to the board of county commissioners and the executive director of the metropolitan housing authority, if applicable. The nominee shall not be a resident of the district’s most populous city and shall represent a city that is substantially impacted as described in division (I) of this section. The board of county commissioners shall accept or reject the nominee.

(2) At the time of the initial appointment of the authority described in division (D)(1) of this section, the member appointed by the probate court shall be appointed for a period of four years; the member appointed by the court of common pleas shall be appointed for three years; the member appointed by the board of county commissioners shall be appointed for two years; one member appointed by the mayor of the most populous city in the district shall be appointed for one year, and the other member appointed by the mayor of the most populous city in the district shall be appointed for five years; the member nominated by the township association of the county shall be appointed for the same number of years as the nonresident member of the authority appointed by the mayor of the most populous city in the district; and the member nominated by the municipal league of the county shall be appointed for the same number of years as the resident member of the authority appointed by the mayor of the most populous city in the district.

After the initial appointments, all members of the authority shall be appointed for five-year terms, and any vacancy occurring upon the expiration of a term shall be filled by the authority that made the initial appointment or nomination.

(E)(1) For any metropolitan housing authority district located in a county that had, as of the 2000 federal census, a population of at least four hundred thousand and no city with a population greater than thirty per cent of the total population of the county, one member of the authority shall be appointed by the probate court, one member shall be appointed by the court of common pleas, one member shall be appointed by the chief executive officer of the most populous city in the district, and two members shall be appointed by the board of county commissioners.

(2) At the time of the initial appointment of a metropolitan housing authority pursuant to this division, the member appointed by the probate court shall be appointed for a period of four years, the member appointed by the court of common pleas shall be appointed for three years, the member appointed by the chief executive officer of the most populous city shall be appointed for two years, one member appointed by the board of county commissioners shall be appointed for one year, and the other member appointed by the board of county commissioners shall be appointed for five years. Thereafter, all members of the authority shall be appointed for five-year terms, with each term ending on the same day of the same month as the term that it succeeds. Vacancies shall be filled in the manner provided in the original appointments. Any member appointed to fill a vacancy occurring prior to the expiration of the term shall hold office as a member for the remainder of that term.

(F)(1) One resident member shall be appointed to a metropolitan housing authority when required by federal law. The chief executive officer of the most populous city in the district shall appoint that resident member for a term of five years. Subsequent terms of that resident member also shall be for five years, and any vacancy in the position of the resident member shall be filled by the chief executive officer of the most populous city in the district. Any member appointed to fill such a vacancy shall hold office as a resident member for the remainder of that term. If, at any time, a resident member no longer qualifies as a resident, another resident member shall be appointed by the appointing authority who originally appointed the resident member to serve for the unexpired portion of that term.

(2) On and after September 29, 2005, any metropolitan housing authority to which two additional members were appointed pursuant to former division (E)(1) of this section as enacted by Amended Substitute House Bill No. 95 of the 125th general assembly shall continue to have those additional members. Their terms shall be for five years, and vacancies in their positions shall be filled in the manner provided for their original appointment under former division (E)(1) of this section as so enacted.

(G) Public officials, other than the officers having the appointing power under this section, shall be eligible to serve as members, officers, or employees of a metropolitan housing authority notwithstanding any statute, charter, or law to the contrary. Not more than two such public officials shall be members of the authority at any one time.

All members of an authority shall serve without compensation but shall be entitled to be reimbursed for all necessary expenses incurred.

After a metropolitan housing authority district is formed, the director may enlarge the territory within the district to include other political subdivisions, or portions of other political subdivisions, but the territorial limits of the district shall be less than that of the county.

(H)(1) Any vote taken by a metropolitan housing authority shall require a majority affirmative vote to pass. A tie vote shall constitute a defeat of any measure receiving equal numbers of votes for and against it.

(2) The members of a metropolitan housing authority shall act in the best interest of the district and shall not act solely as representatives of their respective appointing authorities.

(I) “Substantially impacted” as used in division (D)(1)(f) of this section means a city within a metropolitan housing authority that, based on the percentage of housing units that are subsidized housing, is in the top one-third of cities within the county.