Publication Counties Without Legal Newspapers

Current law requires a county to publish a legal notice or advertisement (notice) to be published in a legal newspaper within the county in which the notice is required to be published that satisfies certain requirements, including a publication period requirement and a periodicals license with paid distribution (legal newspaper). If a legal newspaper does not exist in a county, the county is permitted to use notice may be published using certain alternatives. The bill removes the publication period requirement for a newspaper to be considered a legal newspaper. The bill also expands and clarifies the alternatives for a county to publish a notice when the county does not have a legal newspaper. clarifies the order of priority of the type of newspaper in which the notice should be published. First, the notice should be published in a newspaper in the county that satisfies the requirements for publication and that has been published for at least one year. Second, the notice should be published in a newspaper in the county that would otherwise satisfy the requirements for publication but for the fact that it lacks a periodicals license, and that has been published for at least one year. Third, the notice should be published in a newspaper in the county, even if it does not have a periodicals license or has not been published for at least one year. If there is no newspaper in the county or an adjoining county, notice may be published in a newspaper that satisfies the requirements for a legal newspaper chosen with primary consideration for geographic proximity. Additionally, the bill gives municipalities and special districts with territory in two counties permission to publish notice in a newspaper in either county, so long as the newspaper meets the legal requirements for publication.(Note: Italicized words indicate new material added to the original summary; dashes through words indicate deletions from the original summary.)(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)