The process begins with the building of a team, known as the coalition, of interested law enforcement leaders that will be willing to sponsor the petition, next the coalition will prepare a petition for HIDTA designation. The petition will take some time to complete, please plan accordingly. The petition must be signed by the agency heads from supporting law enforcement agencies to signify their support for designation.

Once the petition is completed it will be presented to the OHIO HIDTA Executive Board. The Executive Board meets quarterly and only accepts petitions for designation at the first quarterly meeting each year. Therefore, it is imperative to have your petition completed and submitted to your respective HIDTA State Coordinator no later than the end of January. Based on guidance published by the Office of National Drug Control Policy each year the due date may change periodically so confer with your respective HIDTA State Coordinator for specifics on due dates for petitions.

After the OHIO HIDTA Executive Board formally receives your petition at the first quarterly Executive Board meeting, Management & Coordination Staff will begin the process of validating the information contained in the petition.

At the second quarterly Executive Board meeting the petition will be discussed in detail and formally considered by the Executive Board. If the petition is approved by the Executive Board, the Chairman of the Executive Board will forward the petition to the Office of National Drug Control Policy for consideration.

The Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy has the final authority to determine what counties are granted final approval for HIDTA designation.

Once a decision has been made by the Office of National Drug Control Policy, the Executive Director will notify coalition agencies of the decision.