(A) If the interests of the county so require, the board of county commissioners may sell any real property belonging to the county and not needed for public use, including all or portions of buildings acquired by the board to house county offices, or may lease or rent the same, but no such lease shall be for a longer term than five years, unless such lease is part of a lease-purchase agreement, in which case the lease may be for a period not exceeding twenty-five years, or unless the lease is to a commercial tenant who uses the property as a retail store room, office, or restaurant, and the leased property is located in a building initially acquired to house county offices or in a parking facility constructed or acquired to serve a building that houses county offices, in which case the lease may be for a period not exceeding twenty years, and may include provision for one or more renewals for lesser periods. In the case of real property used or to be used for the purpose of airports, landing fields, or air navigational facilities, including restaurants, parking lots, motels, gasoline service stations, public recreation facilities, public parks, office buildings, retail stores for merchandising or services, and industrial uses located or to be located thereon, or parts thereof, belonging to the county, the primary term of such lease shall not exceed twenty-five years and the board of county commissioners may renew such leases for one or more periods of years. The total of such renewal periods, when added to the primary term of such lease, shall not exceed sixty years.

(B) The board may grant leases, rights, and easements to the United States government, to the state or any department or agency thereof, or to municipal corporations or other governmental subdivisions of the state for public purposes, or to privately owned electric light and power companies, or natural gas companies, or telephone or telegraph companies for purposes of rendering their several public utilities services, or to corporations not for profit for hospital, charitable, water, sewer, any of the purposes specified in section 1724.01 of the Revised Code, or recreational purposes, including among other such purposes memorial structures, parks, golf courses, and underground structures, poles, piers, towers, wires, pipelines, underground cables, and manholes, on or in lands owned by the county where such lease, right, or easement is not deemed by the board to be inconsistent with the need of such land for public use by the county. Any such lease, right, or easement granted to the United States government, to the state or any department or agency thereof, or to a municipal corporation or other governmental subdivision of the state, or to privately owned electric light and power companies, or natural gas companies, or telephone or telegraph companies for purposes of rendering their several public utilities services, or to corporations not for profit for hospital, charitable, water, sewer, or recreational purposes, may be for such length of time, upon such terms, for such purposes, and may provide for such renewals thereof as the board deems for the best interests of the county.

(C) In case of the sale of such real property not used for county purposes, and in case of a lease of real property used or to be used for the purpose of airports, landing fields, or air navigational facilities, including restaurants, parking lots, motels, gasoline service stations, public recreation facilities, public parks, office buildings, retail stores for merchandising or services, and industrial uses, and in case of such a grant of lease, right, or easement to the United States government, to the state or any department or agency thereof or to a municipal corporation or other governmental subdivision of the state, or to privately owned electric light and power companies, or natural gas companies, or telephone or telegraph companies for purposes of rendering their several public utilities services, or to corporations not for profit for hospital, charitable, water, sewer, or recreational purposes, all or such part of the proceeds thereof as the board designates may be placed by the board in a separate fund to be used only for construction, equipment, furnishing, maintenance, or repair of the county buildings and the acquisition of sites therefor, or for the payment of principal of or interest on bonds of the county issued for any county building.

Effective Date: 03-12-2001; 2008 SB353 04-07-2009 .