AGO 1993-026.

Case DateOctober 27, 1993
CourtOhio
Ohio Attorney General Opinions 1993. AGO 1993-026. October 27, 1993OPINION NO. 1993-026The Honorable Russell B. Wiseman Crawford County Prosecuting Attorney 255 East Mansfield Street P.O. Box 509 Bucyrus, Ohio 44820 Dear Prosecutor Wiseman: You have requested an opinion as to whether a board of township trustees may enter into an agreement with a private party to exchange, at a future date, the real property of the township upon which the township hall is located for other property if, at the time of the agreement, the private party has not acquired real property to exchange for the township's real property. In your letter, you explained that the private party desires the land on which the present township hall stands, and it plans to acquire land and construct a building that it will trade for the township hall.
R.C. 505.104 Permits the Exchange of Township Property Under Certain Circumstances
A board of township trustees possesses only the authority expressly granted by statute and the authority that is necessarily implied by that express grant. Hopple v. Brown, 13 Ohio St. 311 (1862). The authority to manage and control the property of a township is vested in the board of township trustees pursuant to several specific statutes. See, e.g., R.C. 505.10 (acceptance of real or personal property for township use); R.C. 505.102 (sale or lease of township real property to nonprofit senior citizens' organization); R.C. 505.11 (leases of real property or mining rights). In particular, R.C. 505.104 permits a board of township trustees to exchange real property of the township for other real property, as follows:
A board of township trustees may, by resolution and without bidding or advertising, exchange and transfer any real property belonging to the township if all of the following apply in regard to the real property the township acquires in the exchange:
(A) Its current market value is equal to or greater than that of the real property the township gives up in the exchange and the county auditor so certifies prior to the transfer;
(B) It is improved to the township's specifications;
(C) It is to be used by the township for a public purpose that is the same as or similar to that for which the real property the township gives up in the exchange was used.
R.C. 505.104 specifies that the transfer and exchange of...

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