This document includes House Committee Amendments incorporated into the bill on Wed, Feb 14, 2018 at 11:52 AM by lerror.
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7 LONG TITLE
8 General Description:
9 This bill amends legal notice publication requirements.
10 Highlighted Provisions:
11 This bill:
12 ▸ defines average advertisement rate;
13 ▸ permits a person to satisfy a part of legal notice publication requirements, in certain
14 circumstances, by serving legal notice directly on all parties to whom legal notice is
15 required;
16 ▸ amends restrictions on newspapers in relation to legal notices; and
17 ▸ makes technical and conforming changes.
18 Money Appropriated in this Bill:
19 None
20 Other Special Clauses:
21 None
22 Utah Code Sections Affected:
23 AMENDS:
24 45-1-101, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2011, Chapter 422
25
26 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
27 Section 1. Section 45-1-101 is amended to read:
28 45-1-101. Legal notice publication requirements.
29 (1) As used in this section:
30 (a) "Average advertisement rate" means:
31 (i) in determining a rate for publication on the public legal notice website, a
32 newspaper's gross advertising revenue for the preceding calendar quarter divided by the gross
33 column-inch space used in the newspaper for advertising for the previous calendar quarter[
34 or
35 (ii) in determining a rate for publication in a newspaper, a newspaper's average rate for
36 all qualifying advertising segments for the preceding calendar quarter for an advertisement:
37 (A) published in the same section of the newspaper as the legal notice; and
38 (B) of the same column-inch space as the legal notice.
39 (b) "Column-inch space" means a unit of space that is one standard column wide by
40 one inch high.
41 (c) "Gross advertising revenue" means the total revenue obtained by a newspaper from
42 all of its qualifying advertising segments.
43 (d) (i) "Legal notice" means:
44 (A) a communication required to be made public by a state statute or state agency rule;
45 or
46 (B) a notice required for judicial proceedings or by judicial decision.
47 (ii) "Legal notice" does not include:
48 (A) a public notice published by a public body in accordance with the provisions of
49 Sections 52-4-202 and 63F-1-701; or
50 (B) a notice of delinquency in the payment of property taxes described in Section
51 59-2-1332.5.
52 (e) "Local district" is as defined in Section 17B-1-102.
53 (f) "Public legal notice website" means the website described in Subsection (2)(b) for
54 the purpose of publishing a legal notice online.
55 (g) (i) "Qualifying advertising segment" means, except as provided in Subsection
56 (1)(g)(ii), a category of print advertising sold by a newspaper, including classified advertising,
57 line advertising, and display advertising.
58 (ii) "Qualifying advertising segment" does not include legal notice advertising.
59 (h) "Special service district" is as defined in Section 17D-1-102.
60 (2) Except as provided in Subsections (8) and (9), notwithstanding any other legal
61 notice provision established by law, a person required by law to publish legal notice shall
62 publish the notice:
63 (a) (i) as required by the statute establishing the legal notice requirement; [
64 (ii) by serving legal notice Ĥ→ , by certified mail or in person, ←Ĥ directly on all
64a parties for whom the statute establishing the
65 legal notice requirement requires legal notice, if Ĥ→ [
65a Ĥ→ (A) the statute clearly identifies the parties;
66 [
66a notice is required; and
67 Ĥ→ [
68 (b) on a public legal notice website established by the combined efforts of Utah's
69 newspapers that collectively distribute newspapers to the majority of newspaper subscribers in
70 the state.
71 (3) The public legal notice website shall:
72 (a) be available for viewing and searching by the general public, free of charge; and
73 (b) accept legal notice posting from any newspaper in the state.
74 (4) A person that publishes legal notice as required under Subsection (2) is not relieved
75 from complying with an otherwise applicable requirement under Title 52, Chapter 4, Open and
76 Public Meetings Act.
77 (5) If legal notice is required by law [
78 with the requirement is publication in a newspaper, or if a local district or a special service
79 district publishes legal notice in a newspaper, the newspaper:
80 (a) may not charge more for publication than the newspaper's average advertisement
81 rate; and
82 (b) shall publish the legal notice on the public legal notice website at no additional
83 cost.
84 (6) If legal notice is not required by law [
85 law and the person providing legal notice, in accordance with the requirements of law , chooses
86 not to publish the legal notice in a newspaper, or if a local district or a special service district
87 with an annual operating budget of less than $250,000 chooses to publish a legal notice on the
88 public notice website without publishing the complete notice in the newspaper, a newspaper:
89 (a) may not charge more than an amount equal to 15% of the newspaper's average
90 advertisement rate for publishing five column lines in the newspaper to publish legal notice on
91 the public legal notice website;
92 (b) may not require that the legal notice be published in the newspaper; and
93 (c) at the request of the person publishing on the legal notice website, shall publish in
94 the newspaper up to five column lines, at no additional charge, that briefly describe the legal
95 notice and provide the web address where the full public legal notice can be found.
96 (7) If a newspaper offers to publish the type of legal notice described in Subsection (5),
97 it may not refuse to publish the type of legal notice described in Subsection (6).
98 (8) Notwithstanding the requirements of a statute that requires the publication of legal
99 notice, if legal notice is required by law to be published by a local district or a special service
100 district with an annual operating budget of $250,000 or more, the local district or special
101 service district shall satisfy its legal notice publishing requirements by:
102 (a) mailing a written notice, postage prepaid:
103 (i) to each voter in the local district or special service district; and
104 (ii) that contains the information required by the statute that requires the publication of
105 legal notice; or
106 (b) publishing the legal notice in a newspaper and on the legal public notice website as
107 described in Subsection (5).
108 (9) Notwithstanding the requirements of a statute that requires the publication of legal
109 notice, if legal notice is required by law to be published by a local district or a special service
110 district with an annual operating budget of less than $250,000, the local district or special
111 service district shall satisfy its legal notice publishing requirements by:
112 (a) mailing a written notice, postage prepaid:
113 (i) to each voter in the local district or special service district; and
114 (ii) that contains the information required by the statute that requires the publication of
115 legal notice; or
116 (b) publishing the legal notice in a newspaper and on the public legal notice website as
117 described in Subsection (5); or
118 (c) publishing the legal notice on the public legal notice website as described in
119 Subsection (6).
Legislative Review Note
Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel