reglab/statecodes huggingface dataset:
2023 Ohio Revised Code › Title 49 | Public Utilities › Chapter 4957 | Elimination of Crossings › Section 4957.24 | Cost of Maintenance.

Effective:
October 1, 1953
Latest Legislation:
House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly
After the completion of the work, crossings and approaches shall be kept in repair as follows:
(A) When the public way crosses a railroad by an overhead bridge, the cost of maintenance must be borne by the municipal corporation;
(B) When the public way passes under the railroad, the bridge and its abutments shall be kept and maintained by the railroad company, and the public way and its approaches shall be maintained and kept in repair by the municipal corporation in which they are situated.
2023 Ohio Revised Code › Title 49 | Public Utilities › Chapter 4957 | Elimination of Crossings › Section 4957.25 | Street Railway Company to Share Expense.

Effective:
October 1, 1953
Latest Legislation:
House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly
In case the track of any street railway company within the limits of a municipal corporation where the improvements authorized by sections 4957.10 to 4957.24, inclusive, of the Revised Code are made, crosses at grade or otherwise a public street or the right of way of any railroad company at a point where it has been determined to construct such improvements, the municipal corporation by ordinance may require such street railway company to bear a reasonable proportion of the cost assumed by it in making the improvement, not exceeding one half of the portion payable by the municipal corporation, which shall have a right of action against such street railway company for that part of the cost which the ordinance requires it to bear. Such part of the cost is also a lien upon all the property, real and personal, of such company situated in the same county with the municipal corporation after the date of the passage of such ordinance.
The legislative authority of such municipal corporation may by ordinance provide the mode and time of payment for the proportion of the cost of such improvement to be borne by such street railway company.
2023 Ohio Revised Code › Title 49 | Public Utilities › Chapter 4957 | Elimination of Crossings › Section 4957.26 | Repairs.

Effective:
October 1, 1953
Latest Legislation:
House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly
A street railway company shall keep in repair at its own expense all tracks affected by the improvement referred to by section 4957.25 of the Revised Code and all construction work of whatever character necessary to support such tracks.
2023 Ohio Revised Code › Title 49 | Public Utilities › Chapter 4957 | Elimination of Crossings › Section 4957.27 | Crossings Above or Below Grade.

Effective:
October 1, 1953
Latest Legislation:
Senate Bill 361 - 100th General Assembly
Except as provided in sections 4957.30 to 4957.32, inclusive, of the Revised Code, all crossings constructed after May 3, 1904, whether of highways by railroads, or of railroads by highways, shall be above or below the grade thereof.
2023 Ohio Revised Code › Title 49 | Public Utilities › Chapter 4957 | Elimination of Crossings › Section 4957.28 | Railroad Crossings.

Effective:
October 1, 1953
Latest Legislation:
Senate Bill 361 - 100th General Assembly
Every railroad company building a new line of road under its charter powers across a highway shall construct it above or below the grade of the highway, unless it is allowed to build it at grade as provided in sections 4957.30 to 4957.32, inclusive, of the Revised Code. Such company may exercise the power contained in its charter and the general laws for altering the grade and location of highways in order to avoid grade crossings.
2023 Ohio Revised Code › Title 49 | Public Utilities › Chapter 4957 | Elimination of Crossings › Section 4957.29 | Highway Crossings.

Effective:
October 1, 1953
Latest Legislation:
House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly
Every municipal corporation or other authority building a highway across an existing railroad shall construct it above or below the grade of such railroad, unless allowed to build at grade as provided by sections 4957.30 to 4957.32, inclusive, of the Revised Code. The cost of such work shall be paid, unless otherwise agreed upon, eighty-five per cent by such municipal corporation or other authority, and fifteen per cent by the company owning the railroad. "Railroad" includes interurban railroads, and "railroad company" includes interurban railroad companies engaged in the operation of cars by electricity or other motive power which said companies may adopt or use. The method or procedure for the construction of such highway and the manner of construction of it shall be governed by the laws regulating the abolition of grade crossings.
2023 Ohio Revised Code › Title 49 | Public Utilities › Chapter 4957 | Elimination of Crossings › Section 4957.30 | Petition for Grade Crossings.

Effective:
September 28, 1973
Latest Legislation:
House Bill 200 - 110th General Assembly
When it is desired by a railroad company constructing a new railroad or in changing or altering the location of one previously constructed, or by any municipal corporation or authority constructing a new highway, that the railroad or highway should be so constructed that they will cross each other at the same grade, or if it is desired to divert, change, or alter an existing public highway, a petition shall be presented by the party desiring such construction or diversion, to the court of common pleas of the county within which the crossing or diversion is situated. If it is the authority constructing a highway asking for the right to cross a railroad, the railroad company shall be the defendant. If it is a railroad company asking for the right to cross a highway, or divert, change, or alter any existing public highway in a municipal corporation, such municipal corporation shall be the defendant. If outside the municipal corporation, and a road or highway other than on the state highway system, the board of township trustees of the township and the board of county commissioners of the county shall be the defendants. If it is a road or highway on the state highway system, the director of transportation shall be the defendant. Summons shall be served and the rule days and the rights of the defendants to plead shall be the same as in civil actions in such court.
2023 Ohio Revised Code › Title 49 | Public Utilities › Chapter 4957 | Elimination of Crossings › Section 4957.31 | Contents of Petition.

Effective:
October 1, 1953
Latest Legislation:
House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly
The petition referred to in section 4957.30 of the Revised Code shall set forth the reasons that are supposed to make such change or alteration necessary or desirable. The court of common pleas thereupon shall have the jurisdiction of the parties and the subject matter of the petition, and may proceed to examine the matter, either by evidence, by reference to a master commissioner, or otherwise. If satisfied that such construction is reasonable required to accommodate the public, or to avoid excessive expense, in view of the small amount of traffic on the highway or railroad, and considering the future uses to which the highway may be adapted, or in view of the difficulties of other methods of construction, or for other good and sufficient reasons, the court shall make an order permitting such crossing at a grade or diversion to be established. In such order, the court may prescribe that gates, signals, watchmen, or other safeguards shall be maintained by the railroad company, in addition to the signals and safeguards prescribed by law, and all such orders shall be binding upon the parties and be observed by them.
All costs and expenses of the proceedings shall be ascertained and allowed by the court of common pleas and be paid by such party as it decides, or apportioned by the court between the parties, and may be collected by execution out of such court.
2023 Ohio Revised Code › Title 49 | Public Utilities › Chapter 4957 | Elimination of Crossings › Section 4957.32 | Appeals.

Effective:
October 1, 1953
Latest Legislation:
House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly
Appeals may be taken from the decision of the court of common pleas to the court of appeals in proceedings under section 4957.31 of the Revised Code, as in civil actions. The decision of that court shall be final and conclusive. In both the court of common pleas and court of appeals, proceedings brought under this section and section 4957.31 of the Revised Code shall be advanced over other civil causes.
2023 Ohio Revised Code › Title 49 | Public Utilities › Chapter 4957 | Elimination of Crossings › Section 4957.33 | Additional Tracks and Switches.

Effective:
October 1, 1953
Latest Legislation:
House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly
Sections 4957.27 to 4957.32, inclusive, of the Revised Code, do not prevent a railroad company from laying additional tracks at previously existing crossings, or from constructing switches, sidings, and branch lines from its railroad to a mill, factory, other manufacturing establishment or industrial plant, elevator, wharf, or pier, or gravel, marl, or clay bed, or any mine, or from laying additional track to increase its yard facilities at terminal or other points across public highways at the grade thereof. Such signposts and signals shall be employed for the protection of such crossings as are prescribed for railroad crossings of public highways.
2023 Ohio Revised Code › Title 49 | Public Utilities › Chapter 4957 | Elimination of Crossings › Section 4957.34 | Plans and Specifications to Be Filed With Commission.

Effective:
October 1, 1953
Latest Legislation:
Senate Bill 361 - 100th General Assembly
Every railroad company, public or private corporation, or person building, or permitting to be built, any bridge, viaduct, overhead roadway, footbridge, wire, and other structure mentioned in sections 4957.35 and 4957.36 of the Revised Code shall, before proceeding, file with the public utilities commission, plans and specifications for, and have its permit for, the erection of such structure or wire.
2023 Ohio Revised Code › Title 49 | Public Utilities › Chapter 4957 | Elimination of Crossings › Section 4957.35 | Height of Structures Over Railroads.

Effective:
October 1, 1953
Latest Legislation:
Senate Bill 361 - 100th General Assembly
Except cases in which the public utilities commission finds that such construction is impracticable, bridges, viaducts, overhead roadways, footbridges, wire, or other structure built over the track of a railroad after April 16, 1900, by a county, municipal corporation, township, railroad company, or other corporation or person, shall be not less than twenty-one feet in the clear from the top of the rails of such track to such wire or other structure, or to the bottom of the lowest sill, girder, or crossbeam, and the lowest downward projection on the bridge, viaduct, overhead roadway, or footbridge.
2023 Ohio Revised Code › Title 49 | Public Utilities › Chapter 4957 | Elimination of Crossings › Section 4957.36 | Exceptions.

Effective:
October 1, 1953
Latest Legislation:
House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly
The exception in section 4957.35 of the Revised Code does not apply to the structures named in such section when built over the main tracks of railroads. In cases in which it is allowed, the public utilities commission shall file in its office a written statement of the facts upon which it relied in finding the required construction impracticable. Such clearances over and adjacent to railroad tracks in terminals may be used as the commission approves. When a railroad, union depot, or terminal company, severally or jointly, determines to install an electrification system for the operation of cars, locomotives, or trains on their lines or parts thereof, such railroad, union depot, or terminal company, severally or jointly, may, with the approval of the commission, fix such clearances for the necessary wires, conductors, appurtenances, and their supports for such electrification system as are practicable for construction and operation and consistent with the clearances of structures over or adjacent to the lines or parts thereof to be electrified.
2023 Ohio Revised Code › Title 49 | Public Utilities › Chapter 4957 | Elimination of Crossings › Section 4957.37 | Costs.

Effective:
October 1, 1953
Latest Legislation:
House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly
In case of the rebuilding of bridges or the other structures provided for in section 4957.35 of the Revised Code, if the structure is at or in line with a public street or highway and a cross street, the cost of making such streets or highways conform to a new grade, with all damages to owners of property abutting on them because of such change, the railroad company or its assigns shall pay all costs or damages resulting from the raising or building of its bridges or structures in the line of a street or highway at a greater height than was previously required. If such company is only part owner of such structure, it shall pay its proportionate share of the cost of such change in grade and damages. Should a railroad company or its assigns raise the grade of its track under any of such structures not owned by it, thereby causing a bridge or structure to be put at a higher grade when rebuilt, the company shall pay all costs and damages thereby made necessary.
2023 Ohio Revised Code › Title 49 | Public Utilities › Chapter 4957 | Elimination of Crossings › Section 4957.38 | Injunction.

Effective:
October 1, 1953
Latest Legislation:
House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly
Sections 4957.34 to 4957.37, inclusive, of the Revised Code, may be enforced by an injunction on complaint of any interested person, corporation, or board.
2023 Ohio Revised Code › Title 49 | Public Utilities › Chapter 4959 | Right of Way Drainage and Fences › Section 4959.01 | Waterways Must Be Provided.

Effective:
October 1, 1953
Latest Legislation:
House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly
Except where the roadbed of a railroad extends through or by swampland, the company or person operating the railroad shall make and keep open ditches or drains along such roadbed of depth, width, and grade sufficient to conduct water accumulating at the sides of the roadbed from the building or operation of the railroad to some proper outlet.
2023 Ohio Revised Code › Title 49 | Public Utilities › Chapter 4959 | Right of Way Drainage and Fences › Section 4959.02 | Fences.

Effective:
March 9, 1999
Latest Legislation:
Senate Bill 197 - 122nd General Assembly
(A) A company or person having control or management of any railroad except a scenic railway shall construct and maintain in good repair, or otherwise provide for, on each side of the railroad, along the line of the lands of the company owning or operating it, a fence sufficient to turn stock. If, pursuant to section 4907.08 of the Revised Code, the public utilities commission determines that the company or person having control or management of the railroad is in violation of this section, the commission may order the company or person to do any of the following:
(1) Construct, replace, or repair the fence;
(2) Provide the landowner with the required materials to construct, replace, or repair the fence;
(3) Pay the cost of the materials required to construct, replace, or repair the fence.
When the commission directs the company or person having control or management of the railroad to provide the landowner with the required materials under division (A)(2) of this section or to pay the cost of the required materials under division (A)(3) of this section, the landowner is responsible for the labor necessary to construct, replace, or repair the fence. Any fence constructed, replaced, or repaired under this section shall be the same as or comparable to existing fence on the property.
(B) In determining what remedy to order under division (A) of this section, the commission shall consider all of the following:
(1) The volume of train traffic;
(2) Train types and speed;
(3) The cost of fence repair or replacement;
(4) The accessibility to the railroad right-of-way through the property;
(5) Any other relevant factors.
(C) The commission may order an action or remedy under division (A) of this section only if comparable fencing exists along or within the abutting landowner's property boundaries perpendicular or parallel to the railroad's property line.
(D) If an owner of land abutting a scenic railway requests the company or person having control or management of the railway to construct and maintain in good repair such a fence along the abutting line of land of the railway, the company or person having control or management of the railway shall do so, and the cost of constructing and maintaining the fence shall be equally shared between the railway and owner of land.
(E) As used in this section, "scenic railway" means a railroad operated not for profit and exclusively as a tourist or historical attraction.
2023 Ohio Revised Code › Title 49 | Public Utilities › Chapter 4959 | Right of Way Drainage and Fences › Section 4959.03 | Cattle Guards and Crossings.

Effective:
October 1, 1953
Latest Legislation:
House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly
Before operating a railroad, the company or person having control or management of such railroad shall maintain at every point where a public road, street, lane, or highway used by the public crosses such railroad, safe and sufficient crossings, and on each side of such crossings cattle guards sufficient to prevent domestic animals from going upon such railroad. Such company or person shall be liable for all damages sustained in person or property by reason of the want or insufficiency of such fence, crossing, or cattle guard, or neglect or carelessness in the construction or keeping in repair of such fence, crossing, or cattle guard.
2023 Ohio Revised Code › Title 49 | Public Utilities › Chapter 4959 | Right of Way Drainage and Fences › Section 4959.04 | Temporary Crossings.

Effective:
March 9, 1999
Latest Legislation:
Senate Bill 197 - 122nd General Assembly
In the case of a railroad in process of construction or a proposed railroad which passes through enclosed land, the company or person having control of the railroad during its construction shall provide suitable crossings for the owner or occupant of each farm, make and keep in repair fences along the line of the railroad through the enclosed fields, and protect crops growing thereon. When the company or person agrees with the owner of the lands through which a railroad passes that the owner is to build and keep in repair any portion of the fencing, and if such fencing is destroyed or damaged by fire from passing trains or by the elements, the company or person owning or operating the railroad shall rebuild or repair such fence if the property holder demands it. If the company fails to construct a fence after having received written notice to do so from the owner or occupant of lands through which the railroad passes, after thirty days from the time of serving the notice upon the agent of such company nearest such lands, the owner or occupant may proceed to construct it, and the company shall be liable to the person for the cost thereof.
2023 Ohio Revised Code › Title 49 | Public Utilities › Chapter 4959 | Right of Way Drainage and Fences › Section 4959.07 | Exception.

Effective:
March 9, 1999
Latest Legislation:
Senate Bill 197 - 122nd General Assembly
Sections 4959.02 to 4959.04 of the Revised Code, relating to fences, do not apply to any case in which compensation for building a fence has been or may be taken into consideration and estimated as a part of the consideration to be paid for the right-of-way, so far as the fence has been or may be settled or paid for. Those sections do not affect, in any manner, any contract or agreement between a railroad company, or person having the control and management of a railroad, and the proprietors or occupants of lands adjoining for the construction or maintenance of fences and cattle guards.
2023 Ohio Revised Code › Title 49 | Public Utilities › Chapter 4959 | Right of Way Drainage and Fences › Section 4959.08 | Company May Build Fence at Landowner's Expense.

Effective:
October 1, 1953
Latest Legislation:
House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly
If an owner of lands abutting on the line of lands of a company, who is legally bound to build or repair the fence dividing his lands from the lands of the company, fails to build or repair such fence within the time in which he is bound to build or repair it, the company may build or repair such fence and present an itemized account of the cost of labor and materials so expended to such owner for payment. If it is not settled or paid within thirty days, the company may recover from such person the reasonable cost of such labor and materials.
2023 Ohio Revised Code › Title 49 | Public Utilities › Chapter 4959 | Right of Way Drainage and Fences › Section 4959.09 | Right to Use Culvert for Cattle Way.

Effective:
October 1, 1953
Latest Legislation:
House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly
An owner of land through which a railroad is constructed, and upon which there is a culvert, waterway, or opening through the embankment of the railroad of sufficient height for such purpose, may use such culvert, waterway, or opening, as a stock or cattle way under the track of the railroad so as to permit stock to pass and repass. The landowner shall build and maintain all necessary fences on both sides of the opening, and shall not, by use or otherwise, permit the foundations of structures about such opening to be injured or interfered with.
2023 Ohio Revised Code › Title 49 | Public Utilities › Chapter 4959 | Right of Way Drainage and Fences › Section 4959.10 | Forfeitures for Not Constructing and Repairing Fences.

Effective:
March 9, 1999
Latest Legislation:
Senate Bill 197 - 122nd General Assembly
A company or person having the control and management of a railroad, who fails to comply with any provision of this chapter, shall forfeit and pay, for each day the company or person so fails, a sum not exceeding fifty dollars per day, to be recovered in a civil action in the name of the state for the use of the county in which suit is brought.
2023 Ohio Revised Code › Title 49 | Public Utilities › Chapter 4959 | Right of Way Drainage and Fences › Section 4959.11 | Destruction of Noxious Weeds.

Effective:
January 9, 1961
Latest Legislation:
House Bill 1 - 104th General Assembly
The superintendent or manager of a toll road, railroad, or electric railway shall destroy all brush, briers, burrs, vines, Russian thistle, Canadian thistle, common thistle, wild lettuce, wild mustard, wild parsnip, ragweed, milkweed, ironweed, and all other noxious weeds growing or being cut within the limits of such toll road, railroad, or railway, or within the limits of any right of way belonging to the company owning such toll road, railroad, or railway, whether or not it is in actual operation on such right of way, between such days as are specified in section 5579.04 of the Revised Code.
In default of such destruction, and for five days thereafter, the board of township trustees of a township through which such toll road, railroad, or railway passes, shall cause it to be done, and shall have a right of action against such company for the amount of such work, with one hundred per cent penalty and costs of action, to be recovered before any judge or a county court or judge of a municipal court having jurisdiction in the area in which the work was done.
2023 Ohio Revised Code › Title 49 | Public Utilities › Chapter 4961 | Special Powers of Railroads › Section 4961.01 | Tracks Maintained and Operated by Railroads.

Effective:
October 1, 1953
Latest Legislation:
House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly
Any railroad company may maintain and operate, or construct, maintain, and operate, a railroad, with such main tracks, sidetracks, turnouts, offices, depots, roundhouses, machine shops, water tanks, telegraph lines, and other necessary appliances, as it deems necessary, between the points named in its articles of incorporation, commencing at or within, and extending to or into any municipal corporation or place named as a terminus of its railroad.
2023 Ohio Revised Code › Title 49 | Public Utilities › Chapter 4961 | Special Powers of Railroads › Section 4961.02 | Electricity as Motive Power.

Effective:
October 1, 1953
Latest Legislation:
House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly
Upon any railroad in this state, electricity may be used as a motive power in the propulsion of cars. Before a line of poles and wires may be constructed through or along the streets, alleys, or public grounds of a municipal corporation, plans of the construction must be submitted to and approved by its legislative authority.
2023 Ohio Revised Code › Title 49 | Public Utilities › Chapter 4961 | Special Powers of Railroads › Section 4961.03 | Highway and Aerial Transportation Authorized.

Effective:
June 11, 2012
Latest Legislation:
House Bill 487 - 129th General Assembly
Any railroad company owning or operating a railroad in this state may own, control, operate, or manage motor vehicles for the purpose of transporting persons or property, or both, upon the public highways for hire, subject to Chapters 4921. and 4923. of the Revised Code. Any railroad company may also own and operate equipment for and engage in the business of aerial transportation. Any railroad company may acquire, own, and hold capital stock and securities of corporations organized for or engaged in the businesses authorized in this section and may operate the properties, or any part thereof, of such corporations, and may enter into working arrangements and agreements with such corporations.
2023 Ohio Revised Code › Title 49 | Public Utilities › Chapter 4961 | Special Powers of Railroads › Section 4961.04 | Terminus on State Line.

Effective:
October 1, 1953
Latest Legislation:
House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly
When a terminus named in the articles of incorporation of a railroad company is a county upon the line or boundary of the state, the president and board of directors of the company, upon the location of the railroad in that county, shall make and acknowledge a certificate definitely fixing the location in such county and file it with the secretary of state.
2023 Ohio Revised Code › Title 49 | Public Utilities › Chapter 4961 | Special Powers of Railroads › Section 4961.05 | Changes of Line or Termini.

Effective:
October 1, 1953
Latest Legislation:
House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly
By a resolution adopted by a majority of its board of directors, at a meeting duly called for the purpose, with the written consent of three fourths in interest of its stockholders, a railroad company may change the line of railroad, or any part thereof, and either of the proposed termini, of its railroad. No change shall be made which will involve the abandonment of any part of the railroad, either partly or completely constructed. Any subscription of stock made upon the faith of the location of the railroad, or a part thereof, upon a line of railroad abandoned by the change, shall be canceled at the written request of a subscriber who has not consented to such change, filed with the secretary or other chief officer of the company, within six months after such change.
When such change is made, it shall be described in such resolution, an authenticated copy of which, under the seal of the company, shall be filed with the secretary of state and by him recorded, with proper reference, on the record of the articles of incorporation of the company. When so filed, such change shall be considered as made, and is as valid and binding as if the changed line had been the line originally described in the articles.
2023 Ohio Revised Code › Title 49 | Public Utilities › Chapter 4961 | Special Powers of Railroads › Section 4961.06 | Mortgage on Changed Line of Railroad.

Effective:
October 1, 1953
Latest Legislation:
House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly
When the company referred to in section 4961.05 of the Revised Code has issued its mortgage bonds for the construction of its railroad, the record of the mortgage securing them, in each county through or into which the changed line of the railroad passes, is as effectual to create a lien upon the changed line of railroad and upon the property of the company as if the mortgage contained a complete description of the changed line and of such property.
2023 Ohio Revised Code › Title 49 | Public Utilities › Chapter 4961 | Special Powers of Railroads › Section 4961.07 | Route May Be Changed.

Effective:
October 11, 1955
Latest Legislation:
House Bill 70 - 101st General Assembly
When a railroad company, the line of whose railroad has not been finally located in whole or in part, finds it necessary, in order to avoid dangerous or difficult curves, grades, or dangerous or unsubstantial grounds or foundations, or for other reasonable cause, to pass through a county not named in the articles of incorporation, or to avoid passing into or through a county named in them, other than a county in which a terminus of the railroad has been fixed by its articles of incorporation, or in which is located a municipal corporation or place by or through which the line of such railroad is to pass, its president and board of directors, or a majority of such board, under their hands and seals, may make a certificate declaring such necessity and the cause thereof, and name in it the counties through which it is necessary to pass or to avoid, which certificate shall be signed and filed as provided in section 1701.73 of the Revised Code. A copy of the certificate, certified by the secretary of state is evidence of the facts stated in such certificate. This section does not authorize the abandonment of any part of the company's line of railroad which is finally located, or a change of the general route of the line of such railroad or the terminal points named in the articles of incorporation.
2023 Ohio Revised Code › Title 49 | Public Utilities › Chapter 4961 | Special Powers of Railroads › Section 4961.08 | Damages for Diversion.

Effective:
April 6, 2023
Latest Legislation:
House Bill 281 - 134th General Assembly
When, under section 4961.07 of the Revised Code, a railroad company's line of railroad is diverted from a county named in the articles of incorporation, such company is liable to any person owning land in the county for damages caused by the change or diversion. All subscribers to the capital stock of the company on the line of that part of its railroad so changed shall be released from all obligation to pay their subscriptions.
Saving the rights of infants, incompetent individuals, and persons imprisoned, for six months after their disability is removed, no action shall be brought for damages caused by such change or diversion, unless it is begun within six months from the filing of the certificate for the change with the secretary of state, and the publication of notice thereof by the company for four consecutive weeks in a newspaper published in such county.
Last updated March 10, 2023 at 12:41 PM
2023 Ohio Revised Code › Title 49 | Public Utilities › Chapter 4961 | Special Powers of Railroads › Section 4961.09 | Change of Location or Grade.

Effective:
October 1, 1953
Latest Legislation:
House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly
For the purpose of avoiding annoyance to public travel, dangerous or difficult curves or grades, or unsafe or unsubstantial grounds or foundations, or when the roadbed has been injured or destroyed by the current of a river, watercourse, or other unavoidable or reasonable cause, a railroad company may change the location or grade of any portion of its railroad, but shall not depart from the general route prescribed in the articles of incorporation.
2023 Ohio Revised Code › Title 49 | Public Utilities › Chapter 4961 | Special Powers of Railroads › Section 4961.10 | Appropriation of Land to Make Change.

Effective:
January 1, 1966
Latest Legislation:
Senate Bill 94 - 106th General Assembly
For the purpose of making any change provided by section 4961.09 of the Revised Code, the railroad company shall have all rights, powers, and privileges to enter upon and appropriate lands in the manner provided for in sections 163.01 to 163.22, inclusive, of the Revised Code.
2023 Ohio Revised Code › Title 49 | Public Utilities › Chapter 4961 | Special Powers of Railroads › Section 4961.11 | Damages by Change After Completion.

Effective:
October 1, 1953
Latest Legislation:
House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly
When the location is changed, as provided by section 4961.09 of the Revised Code, after the railroad has been used for transportation of persons and property, the railroad company is liable for all damages occasioned by the change to the owner of the land upon which the railroad was first constructed.
2023 Ohio Revised Code › Title 49 | Public Utilities › Chapter 4961 | Special Powers of Railroads › Section 4961.12 | Construction of Branch Road.

Effective:
October 1, 1953
Latest Legislation:
House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly
A railroad company may construct branches from the main line of railroad to municipal corporations or places within the limits of a county through or into which its railroad passes or to a connection with any railroad within this state, or to any coal or other mine, stone-quarry, plastic-clay, pottery-clay, and fire clay pits or banks, marl beds, sand or gravel pits or banks, asphalt deposits, slag banks, or ore or shale banks, if, at a meeting of the stockholders called for that purpose, the holders of a majority of the capital stock of the company, by a vote in person or by proxy, so determine. Upon such determination, the president and board of directors shall make and acknowledge a certificate setting forth the facts and file it with the secretary of state.
2023 Ohio Revised Code › Title 49 | Public Utilities › Chapter 4961 | Special Powers of Railroads › Section 4961.13 | Right of Entry.

Effective:
October 1, 1953
Latest Legislation:
House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly
A railroad company, domestic or foreign, or municipal corporation which owns or operates a railroad may enter upon any land for the purpose of examining and surveying its railroad line, and may appropriate so much of such land as is necessary for its railroad including necessary sidetracks, depots, workshops, roundhouses, and water-stations, material for construction, except timber, a right of way over adjacent lands sufficient to enable it to construct and repair its road, and the right to conduct water by aqueducts and to make proper drains.
2023 Ohio Revised Code › Title 49 | Public Utilities › Chapter 4961 | Special Powers of Railroads › Section 4961.15 | Company May Acquire Lands.

Effective:
October 2, 1953
Latest Legislation:
House Bill 464 - 100th General Assembly
A railroad company may acquire by purchase or gift lands in the vicinity of the line of its railroad, or through which it passes, so far as is deemed convenient or necessary by the company to secure a right of way, and such as are granted to aid in the construction of its railroad, and hold or convey them, as the board of directors prescribes. Conveyances made by such railroad company may be signed by the president or a vice-president, or any officer authorized by the board of directors.
Conveyances to such companies, acquired by gift, shall be void unless the company to which they are made completes its railroad on the right of way so conveyed within five years from the time of a conveyance for that purpose.
2023 Ohio Revised Code › Title 49 | Public Utilities › Chapter 4961 | Special Powers of Railroads › Section 4961.151 | Validity of Deeds.

Effective:
January 9, 1961
Latest Legislation:
House Bill 1 - 104th General Assembly
When any deed executed prior to October 2, 1953 or recorded after such date purporting to transfer title to real estate has been executed by an officer or officers other than the president of such railroad company, as provided by section 4961.15 of the Revised Code, such deed and the recordation thereof shall be deemed to have been properly executed as of October 2, 1953 and shall be valid in all respects. Any person claiming title adverse thereto, has the right within two years after October 2, 1953, or in the case of deeds recorded for more than twenty years prior to October 2, 1953, then within one year after such date, to institute proceedings to contest the validity of such deeds. Nothing contained in this section shall affect any suit or action pending on October 2, 1953 or which may have been adjudicated prior to such date in any court of this state, in which the validity of the making, execution, or acknowledgement of any such deed has been or may be challenged.
2023 Ohio Revised Code › Title 49 | Public Utilities › Chapter 4961 | Special Powers of Railroads › Section 4961.16 | Appropriation of Easement.

Effective:
January 1, 1966
Latest Legislation:
Senate Bill 94 - 106th General Assembly
If, in the judgment of the board of directors of any domestic or foreign corporation owning or operating a railroad wholly or partly within this state, it is necessary to use and occupy for an elevated track any portion of any public ground lying within the limits of a municipal corporation and dedicated to the public for use as a public ground, common, landing, or wharf, or for any other public purpose, except all streets, avenues, alleys, or public roads, such company may appropriate an easement over so much of such ground as is necessary for such purpose, including the right to maintain the necessary piers and supports for the elevated track. Such appropriation shall be limited to such an easement as is necessary for the construction, maintenance, and uses of such elevated track, in accordance with the plan provided for in section 4961.17 of the Revised Code. Proceedings for appropriation shall be conducted in the manner and upon the terms provided for in sections 163.01 to 163.22, inclusive, of the Revised Code.
2023 Ohio Revised Code › Title 49 | Public Utilities › Chapter 4961 | Special Powers of Railroads › Section 4961.17 | Submission of Plans to Legislative Authority.

Effective:
October 1, 1953
Latest Legislation:
House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly
Before an appropriation under section 4961.16 of the Revised Code may be made, there shall be submitted to the legislative authority of the municipal corporation general plans of the proposed structure showing the manner, character, and location of all supports, any part of which will be upon public ground, common landing, or wharf, and also the vertical and longitudinal clearances between the supports. No right to appropriate shall accrue to the railroad company until after it and the legislative authority have agreed upon the manner, terms, and conditions upon which the property may be used or occupied and the plans submitted have been approved by ordinance passed by a two-thirds vote of the legislative authority. Such ordinance shall be read on three separate days. The rules requiring such reading shall not be suspended.
Such appropriation shall not be restrictive of the control by the public officers or authorities over such public ground, common, landing, or wharf, subject to the continued maintenance and use of such elevated track upon the conditions agreed upon.
2023 Ohio Revised Code › Title 49 | Public Utilities › Chapter 4961 | Special Powers of Railroads › Section 4961.18 | Authorization of Extension of Line.

Effective:
October 1, 1953
Latest Legislation:
House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly
When a railroad company desires to extend the line of its railroad beyond either of its previously designated termini, its president and board of directors may submit the question of such extension and change of termini to a meeting of its stockholders, to be called for that purpose by notice published for four consecutive weeks in some newspaper in general circulation in each county through or into which the railroad passes. If the holders of a majority of the stock, in person or by proxy, so determine, the president and board, or a majority of it, shall make a certificate of the fact, naming the place of the new termini of the road and the counties through or into which the extended line of railroad will pass, and file it in the office of the secretary of state. Such extension then shall be held to be a part of the original line of the railroad.
2023 Ohio Revised Code › Title 49 | Public Utilities › Chapter 4961 | Special Powers of Railroads › Section 4961.19 | Diversion of Road or Stream.

Effective:
October 1, 1953
Latest Legislation:
House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly
When it is necessary in the construction, reconstruction, alteration, or improvement of its railroad, or in making additions to or relocating such railroad, to cross a road or a stream of water, a railroad company may divert it from its location or bed, but without unnecessary delay it shall place such road or stream in such condition as not to impair its former usefulness.
2023 Ohio Revised Code › Title 49 | Public Utilities › Chapter 4961 | Special Powers of Railroads › Section 4961.20 | Construction of Bridges - Use as Toll Bridges.

Effective:
October 1, 1953
Latest Legislation:
House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly
A railroad company may construct its bridges so as to answer the ordinary purposes of travel and business, as well as for railroad purposes, and may demand and receive such rates of toll for the passage of individuals, vehicles of all kinds, or animals, as it fixes, subject to the approval of the board of county commissioners of the county in which such bridge is erected. Rates of toll shall be uniform, shall be printed or painted and kept conspicuously posted in or near the tollhouse of the bridge, and may be revised and changed in the first week of each year. The company may compound and bargain with any person or party for the use of such bridge, by the month, quarter, or year. No company shall receive toll upon such a bridge if erected within one mile of a toll bridge previously constructed over the same stream.
2023 Ohio Revised Code › Title 49 | Public Utilities › Chapter 4961 | Special Powers of Railroads › Section 4961.25 | Companies Must Use Same Bridge.

Effective:
January 1, 1966
Latest Legislation:
Senate Bill 94 - 106th General Assembly
When it becomes necessary for two or more railroads to cross any of the navigable waters of this state at or near the same point, by drawbridge or swing bridge, the companies or persons owning or controlling such railroads, if practicable, shall use the same bridge and approaches thereto. The right to use any such bridge and its approaches, or other similar structure, so situated and used as to make it necessary for the companies or persons owning or operating two or more railroads to agree upon a common use thereof, in order to comply with this section, when such companies or persons cannot so agree, may be appropriated by the company or persons owning or operating a railroad for which such use is desired, in accordance with sections 163.01 to 163.22, inclusive, of the Revised Code.
2023 Ohio Revised Code › Title 49 | Public Utilities › Chapter 4961 | Special Powers of Railroads › Section 4961.26 | Petition - Contents.

Effective:
January 1, 1966
Latest Legislation:
Senate Bill 94 - 106th General Assembly
The petition to be filed in appropriation proceedings under section 4961.25 of the Revised Code, shall set forth the regulations according to which the joint use of the bridge and approaches, or other structure, are to be regulated. If their reasonableness in any part is denied by the defendant in the proceedings, the court shall hear and determine the issue and record its findings and order thereon, confirming or altering the regulations, as it deems just and reasonable.
2023 Ohio Revised Code › Title 49 | Public Utilities › Chapter 4961 | Special Powers of Railroads › Section 4961.27 | Directors May Receive Subscriptions in Installments.

Effective:
October 1, 1953
Latest Legislation:
House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly
The board of directors of a railroad company which has expended in the construction of its railroad ten per cent of its authorized capital, and has obtained actual bona fide subscriptions to its capital stock to the amount of at least twenty per cent of it, may receive subscriptions to its capital stock, payable in such installments, dependent upon the completion of the whole or any part of its railroad so that cars may pass over it, as they deem expedient, and upon full payment thereof issue certificates of stock therefor. No subscriber to the stock authorized by this section is entitled to any of the privileges of a stockholder until his subscription is fully paid, nor for any purpose shall such subscriber be deemed a stockholder until the happening of the contingency upon which the installments on his subscription are made dependent.
2023 Ohio Revised Code › Title 49 | Public Utilities › Chapter 4961 | Special Powers of Railroads › Section 4961.28 | Conditional Subscriptions.

Effective:
October 1, 1953
Latest Legislation:
House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly
A railroad company which has begun and partly built its railroad, but is unable to finish and operate it for want of means, may take subscriptions conditioned that the proceeds shall not be used or applied upon the debts of the company. All money or material collected upon such subscriptions, and all material or implements purchased with such money for the construction of the track, houses, depots, and rolling stock of the company, shall be exempt from execution, or other process or proceedings for the payment of the debts of the company so long as such money, material, or implements are used or designed for the construction of such track, houses, depots, and rolling stock.
2023 Ohio Revised Code › Title 49 | Public Utilities › Chapter 4961 | Special Powers of Railroads › Section 4961.29 | Subscription to Aid Another Company.

Effective:
October 1, 1953
Latest Legislation:
House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly
A railroad company may aid another in the construction of its railroad by means of subscription to its capital stock, or otherwise, for the purpose of forming a connection of the railroads of the companies, if the railroad of the company so aided will not when constructed form a competing railroad.
2023 Ohio Revised Code › Title 49 | Public Utilities › Chapter 4961 | Special Powers of Railroads › Section 4961.30 | Lease or Purchase of Another Railroad.

Effective:
October 1, 1953
Latest Legislation:
House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly
A railroad company may lease or purchase any part or all of a railroad constructed, or in the course of construction, by another company, if the lines of their railroads are continuous or connected and not competing, on terms agreed upon between the companies. Railroads running or to be constructed to the tracks and property of a union depot company or terminal company, the use of which is enjoyed by either such lessor or lessee, or such vendor or purchaser, or to the tracks of another railroad over which either said lessor or lessee, or vendor or purchaser, has the right to operate by favor of a lease, or any trackage agreement, shall be held to be continuous or connected under this section. After such purchase the purchasing company shall be vested with all the rights and powers in respect to the location, construction, completion, and operation of such railroad, and of branches thereto of the company from which it was purchased, including the power to acquire and appropriate property for it, and be subject to all the duties, obligations, and restrictions of such company. The powers conferred by this section may be exercised by any company organized in this or any other state for the purpose of constructing, owning, and operating a line of railroad, and whether such connection is at the boundary line of this state, or at another place within or without this state.