The Hoosier State Press Association (HSPA) thought it had a year to design the future of public notice. That turned out not to be the case.
The latest encroachment on HSPA’s turf came from the Indiana Supreme Court, which recently proposed amending the state’s rules of trial procedure to allow court notices to be posted on something called the Indiana Court Legal Notice Website in lieu of newspaper publication. According to HSPA Executive Director Steve Key, the rule would encompass notices mandated in connection with foreclosure sales, estate administration, lawsuit summons and name changes. Key said his understanding is the website notices would be free of charge to the individuals required to publish them.
State press group asks for rate increase
The South Dakota Newspaper Association (SDNA) recently testified in support of a rate increase for public notice advertisements published in its members’ newspapers. The Aug. 23 hearing had been called by the state’s Bureau of Administration (BOA) to consider its proposal to increase those rates by approximately 4.8 percent.
Under state law, BOA sets maximum rates for public notice advertising and is required to “annually review and adjust rates to reflect changes in economic conditions.” Nonetheless, it had been five years since the agency had done that before it initiated a formal review of fees in March. The review appeared to have been spurred by a written request the department received from SDNA a few days earlier.
Why public notice shouldn’t be published only on the web
There’s no question that public notice ads should be displayed on the internet. That’s why 15 states have passed laws requiring newspapers that publish notices in their print edition to also run them on their website and/or on their state press association’s statewide public notice site.
After all, notices are designed to be read and lots of people read stuff on the internet.
Wyoming municipalities opt out of state’s public notice laws
There’s a nascent movement of counties asserting their right not to enforce laws they believe violate the U.S. Constitution. Although the Constitution explicitly states federal law is “the supreme law of the land,” public officials in these counties say they can ignore federal edicts that run counter to their interpretation of the founding document.
That spirit of rebellion has reached into the realm of public notice laws this year in Wyoming, where two municipalities in Natrona County recently claimed the right not to run notices in their local newspapers despite state laws requiring them to do so.
‘Devastating’ public notice bill debated in Pennsylvania
A hearing was held last week in Pennsylvania on House Bill 955, which would provide local governments in the state with the option to move their notices from paid-circulation newspapers to government websites or government-printed publications, newspaper websites, free-circulation newspapers, legal newspapers or shoppers.
The hearing was notable for the breadth of issues it addressed and the emphasis the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association placed on the economic impact the bill would have on local newspapers in the state if it passes.
The Constitutional Amendment Public Notice Snafu Blues
Former Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar (pictured at left) may be the first elected official ever to resign for failing to publish public notice advertisements. Boockvar stepped down in February after her office missed a publication deadline and delayed the potential passage of a constitutional amendment by at least two years.
“An amendment had been on track for a likely vote on the May 18 primary ballot until it was revealed that the Department of State had missed a key legal advertising deadline, scuttling the proposal, and resetting the clock,” reported the Pennsylvania Capital-Star.
New Florida public notice law first to authorize internet-only notices
Last Thursday evening, the Florida legislature passed the most significant piece of public notice legislation in modern history.
Sen. Ray Rodrigues’ (R-Fort Myers) SB402 makes Florida the first state in the country to significantly dilute the statutory requirement that notices must be published in print newspapers. But there’s a lot for the newspaper industry and residents of the state to like about the bill.
It’s certainly an improvement over the alternative, Rep. Randy Fine’s (R-Palm Bay) HB35, which would have moved public notice in the state from newspapers to government websites. Fine’s bill had passed the House by the time SB402 started picking up steam in the Senate.
In Indiana, future of notice arrives earlier than expected
By the time Indiana’s 2020 legislative session had ended, the Hoosier State Press Association promised leadership in both chambers it would begin working on a proposal outlining what notice in the state might look like in a future in which print newspapers were no longer its primary vehicle. Like other state press groups, HSPA would prefer to keep public notice in newspapers, where they belong. But the newspaper group was bowing to reality, according to Executive Director Steve Key. After mostly holding off 91 bad public notice bills in the past 21 legislative sessions, even erstwhile supporters in the legislature were telling Key it was time to look to the future.
It’s House vs Senate in Florida
Rep. Randy Fine’s (R-Palm Bay) House Bill 35 passed the Florida House on March 18 by a lopsided, almost party-line vote of 85-34. HB 35 would move all notice from newspapers to “publicly accessible websites and government access channels” — as a practical matter ending the long tradition of newspaper notice in the state.
But Rep. Fine’s bill was expected to pass the House, as it did in both 2019 and 2020. The question was always the Senate. Would HB35 stall in the upper chamber like it did the last two sessions?
After its bill passes, Guilford County loses interest in notifying citizens
Two nearly identical public notice bills have been introduced in North Carolina. Both bills would allow multiple counties, and the municipalities within those counties, to adopt ordinances authorizing them to move their notices from newspapers to the county website. H35 would apply to 11 counties and HB51 would impact 13 others.
Their Republican sponsors (one co-sponsor is a Democrat) structured the bills so oddly to avoid the almost-certain veto of Democratic Governor Roy Cooper. In North Carolina, the governor can’t veto legislation filed as a “local bill”, and local bills are limited to 14 counties.
Bills eliminating newspaper notice introduced in 10 states
PNRC is presently tracking about 60 different public notice bills introduced in 22 states so far in 2021. (We categorize all legislation that has any impact on public notice laws — even a minor impact — as public notice bills.)
Legislators in ten of those states have introduced bills that would move all or a significant percentage of notice from newspapers to government websites.