Ohio Noxious Weed Cutting Duty

When a township board of trustees receives written information that noxious weeds, wild parsnip, wild carrot, oxeye daisy, wild mustard, or other harmful weeds are growing on land in the township, other than land managed by the Department of Natural Resources or public park land, R.C. 5579.05 requires the board to notify the owner, lessee, agent, or tenant in charge of the property. The person notified then has five days to cut or destroy the weeds or appear before the board and explain why no action is necessary. If the owner's address is known, the township sends the notice by certified mail; if it isn't, the board can publish notice once in a newspaper of general circulation, on Ohio's official public-notice website under R.C. 125.182, or on the township's own website or social media account.

Ignore the five-day deadline and R.C. 5579.06 puts the township in charge: the board of trustees cuts or destroys the weeds itself, hiring whatever labor, materials, and equipment the job needs, with the bill initially paid out of the township general fund. R.C. 5579.07 then requires the trustees to file a written report with the county auditor listing their charges, the labor and materials cost, and a description of the property. Once the auditor allows the amount, it is entered on the tax duplicate, becomes a lien on the land from that entry date, and is collected exactly like any other property tax, with the proceeds returned to the township general fund.

A related but separate duty falls on public officials rather than private landowners: R.C. 5579.08 requires township trustees or highway superintendents to cut or destroy brush, briers, burrs, vines, and noxious weeds growing along public highways between June 1-20, August 1-20, and, if needed, September 1-20 each year, or whenever the growth creates a safety hazard. R.C. 5579.04 defines "noxious weed" for this roadside duty to include shatter cane, Russian thistle, multiflora rose, and any plant the director of agriculture designates a prohibited noxious weed.

Landowners carry one more weed-cutting duty tied to fence lines: R.C. 971.33 requires an owner of land adjacent to a partition fence to keep brush, briers, thistles, and other noxious weeds cut in the fence corners and in a four-foot-wide strip on the owner's own side along the fence line, though the section doesn't restrict planting vines or trees there for use.

Under R.C. 5579.06, if an owner ignores the five-day notice in § 5579.05, the township trustees cut or destroy the weeds themselves, paying labor and equipment costs from the township general fund. R.C. 5579.07 then requires trustees to certify those charges to the county auditor; once allowed, the amount is entered on the tax duplicate, becomes a lien on the land from that date, and is collected exactly like a delinquent property tax.