As Reported by the House Government Oversight Committee

135th General Assembly

Regular Session H. B. No. 430

2023-2024

Representatives Klopfenstein, Rogers

Cosponsors: Representatives Claggett, Dean, King, Miller, J., Grim, Fowler Arthur, Creech, Plummer, Brennan


A BILL

To amend sections 315.251, 319.203, and 325.14 and to enact section 305.021 of the Revised Code regarding county engineers.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:

Section 1. That sections 315.251, 319.203, and 325.14 be amended and section 305.021 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:

Sec. 305.021. (A) When there is a vacancy in the county engineer's office as a result of death or resignation and the vacancy cannot be filled by election or appointment as provided in section 305.02 of the Revised Code, or if no one runs for the office of county engineer and, for that reason, the office is vacant, the board of county commissioners may contract with another county's county engineer to exercise the powers and perform the acts, duties, or functions of the county engineer. Notwithstanding any contrary provision of the Revised Code or the common law, the same person may serve as the county engineer of more than one county, including adjacent counties, under this section.

(B) A county engineer with whom the board contracts shall receive supplemental compensation for services rendered under the contract in an amount equal to the compensation specified in sections 325.14 and 325.18 of the Revised Code for the population range of the county in which the engineer is contracted to perform services, prorated for the duration of the contract. The supplemental compensation shall have no effect on the compensation a county engineer receives for serving as county engineer in the county in which the engineer holds office. The duration of the contract shall not extend beyond the last day of the term for which there was a vacancy.

Sec. 315.251. (A) If a deed conveying title to real property is presented to the county auditor for transfer, and the deed contains a legal description for land that is a cut-up or split of the grantor's one or more existing parcels of land as shown in the county auditor's records, or if the legal description of the land conveyed in the deed is different from the legal description shown in the prior deed to the grantor, a boundary survey plat in conformity with the new description shall be submitted with the deed. The survey plat and description shall satisfy the minimum standards for boundary surveys promulgated by the board of registration for professional engineers and surveyors pursuant to Chapter 4733. of the Revised Code. If, in the opinion of the county engineer, the survey plat and description satisfy those standards, the county auditor shall accept the deed for transfer and a copy of the survey plat shall be filed in the county engineer's survey file for public inspection.

This section applies only if the requirements of this section are included in the standards governing conveyances of real property in the county adopted under section 319.203 of the Revised Code.

(B) Beginning on the effective date of this amendment, in the counties where the county engineer elects to engage in the private practice of engineering or surveying under division (B) of section 325.14 of the Revised Code the county auditor of that county shall designate another engineer who is registered under Chapter 4733. of the Revised Code and who is employed in the same county engineer's office to perform the duty of the county engineer under division (A) of this section or to exercise or perform any authority or duty of the county engineer under section 319.203 of the Revised Code if the county engineer reasonably believes that the performance of that duty or exercise of that authority by the county engineer would constitute a violation of Chapter 102. of the Revised Code or any other similar civil or criminal statute. Pursuant to this authorization, the designee engineer shall act in the place of the county engineer. Neither the county engineer nor the designee engineer shall discuss any matter reasonably related to this authorization. Any act in compliance with this section is not a violation of Chapter 102. of the Revised Code or any other similar statute.

Division (B) of this section applies only to a county engineer holding office on the effective date of this amendment during such time as the person continues to serve that term or an immediately consecutive term of office as a county engineer.

Sec. 319.203. Subject to division (B) of section 315.251 of the Revised Code, the The county auditor and the county engineer of each county, by written agreement, shall adopt standards governing conveyances of real property in the county. These standards may include the requirements specified in section 315.251 of the Revised Code. The county auditor and county engineer may modify those standards from time to time as they consider necessary or desirable. The standards shall be adopted or modified only after the county auditor and county engineer have held two public hearings, not less than ten days apart, concerning adoption or modification of the standards. The standards shall be available for public inspection during normal business hours at the offices of the county auditor and county engineer.

Before the county auditor transfers any conveyance of real property presented to the auditor under section 319.20 or 315.251 of the Revised Code, the county auditor shall review the conveyance to determine whether it complies with the standards adopted under this section. The county auditor shall not transfer any conveyance that does not comply with those standards.

Sec. 325.14. (A) Each county engineer shall be classified, for salary purposes, according to the population of the county. All county engineers shall receive annual compensation in accordance with the following schedules schedule and in accordance with section 325.18 of the Revised Code:

CLASSIFICATION AND COMPENSATION SCHEDULE

FOR CALENDAR YEAR 2018 FOR

COUNTY ENGINEERS WITH A PRIVATE PRACTICE

1

2

3

A

Class

Population Range

Compensation

B

1

1 - 55,000

$67,746

C

2

55,001 - 95,000

73,059

D

3

95,001 - 200,000

78,594

E

4

200,001 - 400,000

83,022

F

5

400,001 - 1,000,000

88,556

G

6

1,000,001 or more

92,009


CLASSIFICATION AND COMPENSATION SCHEDULE

FOR CALENDAR YEAR 2018 FOR

COUNTY ENGINEERS WITHOUT A PRIVATE PRACTICE

1

2

3

A

Class

Population Range

Compensation

B

1

1 - 55,000

$94,103

C

2

55,001 - 95,000

99,417

D

3

95,001 - 200,000

104,950

E

4

200,001 - 400,000

109,378

F

5

400,001 - 1,000,000

114,914

G

6

1,000,001 or more

118,361


CLASSIFICATION AND COMPENSATION SCHEDULE

FOR CALENDAR YEAR 2019 FOR COUNTY ENGINEERS

WITH A PRIVATE PRACTICE

1

2

3

A

Class

Population Range

Compensation

B

1

1 - 55,000

$71,133

C

2

55,001 - 95,000

76,712

D

3

95,001 - 200,000

82,524

E

4

200,001 - 400,000

87,173

F

5

400,001 - 1,000,000

92,984

G

6

1,000,001 or more

96,609


CLASSIFICATION AND COMPENSATION SCHEDULE

FOR CALENDAR YEAR 2019 FOR COUNTY ENGINEERS

WITHOUT A PRIVATE PRACTICE

1

2

3

A

Class

Population Range

Compensation

B

1

1 - 55,000

$98,808

C

2

55,001 - 95,000

104,388

D

3

95,001 - 200,000

110,198

E

4

200,001 - 400,000

114,847

F

5

400,001 - 1,000,000

120,660

G

6

1,000,001 or more

124,279


CLASSIFICATION AND COMPENSATION SCHEDULE

FOR CALENDAR YEAR 2020 FOR COUNTY ENGINEERS

WITH A PRIVATE PRACTICE

1

2

3

A

Class

Population Range

Compensation

B

1

1 - 55,000

$74,690

C

2

55,001 - 95,000

80,548

D

3

95,001 - 200,000

86,650

E

4

200,001 - 400,000

91,532

F

5

400,001 - 1,000,000

97,633

G

6

1,000,001 or more

101,440


CLASSIFICATION AND COMPENSATION SCHEDULE

FOR CALENDAR YEAR 2020 FOR COUNTY ENGINEERS

WITHOUT A PRIVATE PRACTICE

1

2

3

A

Class

Population Range

Compensation

B

1

1 - 55,000

$103,749

C

2

55,001 - 95,000

109,607

D

3

95,001 - 200,000

115,707

E

4

200,001 - 400,000

120,589

F

5

400,001 - 1,000,000

126,693

G

6

1,000,001 or more

130,493


Such salary may be paid monthly out of the general county fund or out of the county's share of the fund derived from the receipts from motor vehicle licenses, as distributed by section 4501.04 of the Revised Code, and the county's share of the fund derived from the motor vehicle fuel tax, as distributed by section 5735.27 of the Revised Code, as the board of county commissioners directs, upon the warrant of the county auditor and shall be in lieu of all fees, costs, per diem or other allowances, and other perquisites, of whatever kind, which any engineer collects and receives. The engineer shall be the county tax map draftperson, but shall receive no additional compensation for performing the duties of that position. When the engineer performs service in connection with ditches or drainage works, the engineer shall charge and collect the per diem allowances or other fees provided by law and shall pay all of those allowances and fees, monthly, into the county treasury to the credit of the general county fund. The engineer shall pay into the county treasury all allowances and fees collected when the engineer performs services under sections 315.28 to 315.34 of the Revised Code.

(B) A county engineer may elect to engage or not to engage in the private practice of engineering or surveying before the commencement of each new term of office, and a county engineer who elects not to engage in the private practice of engineering or surveying may, for a period of six months after taking office, engage in the private practice of engineering or surveying for the purpose of concluding the affairs of private practice without any diminution of salary as provided in division (A) of this section and in section 325.18 of the Revised Code. A county engineer, including an acting county engineer described in section 305.021 of the Revised Code, shall not perform any private engineering or surveying work that would go before the office of the county engineer of any county in which the person serves as the county engineer or acting county engineer.

Section 2. That existing sections 315.251, 319.203, and 325.14 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.

Section 3. Division (A) of section 325.14 of the Revised Code, as amended by this act, applies to a county engineer whose term of office begins on or after the effective date of this section. Pursuant to Section 20 of Article II, Ohio Constitution, a county engineer shall continue to receive compensation in accordance with the law in effect before the effective date of this section for the remainder of a term of office that began before the effective date of this section.


Section 4. Section 315.251 of the Revised Code is presented in this act as a composite of the section as amended by both S.B. 262 and S.B. 287 of the 121st General Assembly. The General Assembly, applying the principle stated in division (B) of section 1.52 of the Revised Code that amendments are to be harmonized if reasonably capable of simultaneous operation, finds that the composite is the resulting version of the section in effect prior to the effective date of the section as presented in this act.