Newspaper public notices bill heads to governor’s desk

A bill that would end the requirement to publish most legal notices via news outlets is headed to the governor’s desk after both legislative chambers overwhelmingly approved the legislation on Monday.

The mandatory legal notices served as a significant revenue source for many newspapers in the state, but many residents in the state do not have access to print newspapers, a situation that worsened when the Star-Ledger and several of its affiliates shuttered their print operations earlier this year. The legislation, if signed into law, would allow local and county governments to instead publish the notices on their official websites.

Some localities, like Warren County, say no outlet qualifies as a local newspaper.

The Senate voted to approve the bill 36-0. The Assembly voted 69-2 with two abstentions. GOP Assemblymen Brian Rumpf (R-Little Egg Harbor) and Don Guardian (R-Atlantic City) voted against the legislation.

Legislation passed earlier this year essentially punted the issue today, the last day before the Legislature adjourns for the summer.

The bill passed today includes a requirement that public entities must purchase advertisements on online news sites informing locals of where they can find legal notices. 

Critics of the bill have said people seek out information from independent news sites and argued the reform would make the information harder to find.

Nine years ago, New Jersey newspapers made approximately $80 million from legal notices.