An urban township is a designation of a unit of local government in Ohio as prescribed by chapter 504 of the Ohio Revised Code. Chapter 504 outlines the procedures for an Ohio civil township to adopt limited home rule government. At least 2,500 people are required to reside in unincorporated areas of a township for that township to adopt limited home rule government. If 15,000 or more people live in unincorporated areas of a township with a limited home rule government, that township is classed as an urban township under O.R.C. § 504.01(B).

History

In 1991, the state legislature and George Voinovich adopted "Limited Home Rule Townships" as a schism from the Ohio Constitution's Municipal Home Rule established in 1912. The alteration devolved townships which chose limited home rule government to be similar to municipalities but without full home rule, a city code, comprehensive zoning, among a host of other traits. The result is many developed townships which would have sought shared municipal incorporation with cities or villages have not maximized property value and do not have basic support for services and infrastructure, relying exclusively on reduced state funding—much of which comes from federal investments for roadwork. The autonomy which was sought has effectively been unable to reserve responsibility for the community and instead outsourced that responsibility to state intervention.

List of urban townships by population

All populations are those of the 2010 United States Census. Other townships include: