OBG's "Public Notice" Services facilitate the posting of public notices by responsible parties of state and local government entities in Ohio to the State Public Notice website: PublicNotice.Ohio.gov. There is no charge for posting public notices to the State Public Notice website via the OBG, and such postings may reduce newspaper posting costs when posted in accordance with Ohio Revised Code 7.16. The following functions are available:
Generally speaking, Ohio public entities may use the OBG to post public notices. The types of public entities include Ohio's political subdivisions such as:
A public entity must be a registered with the Ohio Business Gateway before OBG Electronic Filing can be used to electronically file, edit or revoke a public notice. When creating an OBG account, please select the path "I am creating an account to use OBG on behalf of a business or entity that has a FEIN." After entering and confirming the FEIN, click "Next" to advance to the next step. At this point you will face one of two scenarios:
For more information, please see Creating an Account.
The general steps for filing a public notice are:
Upon logging into the OBG, you will be taken to your organization's Home Page. To file a public notice, go to the "Start a Service or Transaction" section of the page and select "PublicNotice." The "Start a Service or Transaction" section will expand to show the Public Notice functions.
Any items you have in the "Transactions in Progress" area have been drafted but not checked out. Clicking the "Resume" button in this section will allow you to complete the action, and clicking the "Delete" button will cancel the action.
The "Transactions Ready for Checkout (Ready to File and Pay)" area shows the actions ready for checkout. No file, edit or delete action will take effect until the transaction goes through the checkout process.
Selecting "File a Public Notice" will bring you to a splash page with important information for filing a public notice. Please read this page in its entirety and click "Next" to move on to verifying your profile information.
The very first time you file a public notice, the profile information fields will need to be filled in. On subsequent trips to this page, the information will be pre-populated for your review before clicking "Next" to create the public notice. Your profile consists of three fields: name, entity type, and county. These fields are used to assist the public in narrowing down their search results by entity type and county. Updated profile information will be reflected in future notices. If there is a category you think should be added, please let us know via the feedback survey.
The public notice content consists of three fields, all of which are required:
Once you have filled out the public notice content and click "Next" you will see a confirmation page and have the opportunity to go back and make changes. Clicking on "Accept Data" will take you back to the home page, and your notice will appear in the "Transactions Ready for Checkout (Ready to File and Pay)" area. At this point, your transaction is ready for checkout.
Checkout is the most important step. In order for any action on the OBG to take effect, it must go through the checkout process. Click on the "Checkout (File and Pay)" button to start the process. On the next screens, you will have the opportunity to select the transaction for checkout and confirm the transaction. Since public notice is a free service, all dollar amounts will be zero. If you do not go through checkout, your notice will not be published.
The transaction confirmation page will contain a link to a receipt. This receipt contains the public notice ID Number, which you will need if you decide to go back and edit or revoke the notice. Your transactions and receipts will also be accessible via "History" on the main menu.
Once you have completed the checkout process, your notice will be published as entered to the Ohio Public Notice website on the publish date you specified, unless you go back and edit or revoke the notice beforehand.
Unpublished public notices may be edited or revoked up until one day prior to the publish date. The general steps for editing or revoking an unpublished public notice are:
Upon logging into the OBG, you will be taken to your organization's Home Page. To file a public notice, go to the "Start a Service or Transaction" section of the page and select "PublicNotice." The "Start a Service or Transaction" section will expand to show the Public Notice functions.
Any items you have in the "Transactions in Progress" area have been drafted but not checked out. Clicking the "Resume" button in this section will allow you to complete the action, and clicking the "Delete" button will cancel the action.
The "Transactions Ready for Checkout (Ready to File and Pay)" area shows the actions ready for checkout. No file, edit or delete action will take effect until the transaction goes through the checkout process.
Selecting "Edit or Revoke an Unpublished Public Notice" will bring you to a splash page with important information for editing or revoking an unpublished public notice. Please read this page in its entirety and click "Next" to move on to selecting the notice to be edited or revoked.
In order to edit or revoke a notice, you will need the Public Notice ID Number for that notice. This number was assigned during the checkout process when you filed the public notice. This number will be found on your "File a Public Notice" receipt accessible via "History" on the main menu.
If you select "Edit" you will repeat the process of filing a public notice, but all of the fields will be pre-populated, and you will have the chance to edit them. Clicking on "Accept Data" on the confirmation page will take you back to the home page, and your notice will appear in the "Transactions Ready for Checkout (Ready to File and Pay)" area. At this point, your transaction is ready for checkout.
If you select "Revoke" you will see a confirmation page with all of the information on the notice to be revoked. Clicking on the "Revoke" button will take you back to the home page, and your notice will appear in the "Transactions Ready for Checkout (Ready to File and Pay)" area. At this point, your transaction is ready for checkout.
Checkout is the most important step. In order for any action on the OBG to take effect, it must go through the checkout process. Click on the "Checkout (File and Pay)" button to start the process. On the next screens, you will have the opportunity to select the transaction for checkout and confirm the transaction. Since public notice is a free service, all dollar amounts will be zero. If you do not go through checkout, any edit or revoke actions to your notice will not take effect and the notice will be published in its original form (neither edited nor revoked).
The transaction confirmation page will contain a link to a receipt. Your transactions and receipts will also be accessible via "History" on the main menu.
Once you have completed the checkout process, your notice will either be published as edited (if edited) to the Ohio Public Notice website on the publish date you specified, or not published at all (if revoked).