1     
LEGAL NOTICE REVISIONS

2     
2019 GENERAL SESSION

3     
STATE OF UTAH

4     
Chief Sponsor: Daniel McCay

5     
House Sponsor: Logan Wilde

6     

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; [and] or
64          (ii) by serving legal notice, by certified mail or in person, directly on all parties for
65     whom the statute establishing the legal notice requirement requires legal notice, if:
66          (A) the statute clearly identifies the parties;
67          (B) the person can prove that the person has identified all parties for whom notice is
68     required; and
69          (C) the person keeps a record of the service for at least two years; and
70          (b) on a public legal notice website established by the combined efforts of Utah's
71     newspapers that collectively distribute newspapers to the majority of newspaper subscribers in
72     the state.
73          (3) The public legal notice website shall:
74          (a) be available for viewing and searching by the general public, free of charge; and
75          (b) accept legal notice posting from any newspaper in the state.
76          (4) A person that publishes legal notice as required under Subsection (2) is not relieved
77     from complying with an otherwise applicable requirement under Title 52, Chapter 4, Open and
78     Public Meetings Act.
79          (5) If legal notice is required by law [to be published] and one option for complying
80     with the requirement is publication in a newspaper, or if a local district or a special service
81     district publishes legal notice in a newspaper, the newspaper:
82          (a) may not charge more for publication than the newspaper's average advertisement
83     rate; and
84          (b) shall publish the legal notice on the public legal notice website at no additional
85     cost.
86          (6) If legal notice is not required by law [to be published], if legal notice is required by
87     law and the person providing legal notice, in accordance with the requirements of law , chooses
88     not to publish the legal notice in a newspaper, or if a local district or a special service district
89     with an annual operating budget of less than $250,000 chooses to publish a legal notice on the

90     public notice website without publishing the complete notice in the newspaper, a newspaper:
91          (a) may not charge more than an amount equal to 15% of the newspaper's average
92     advertisement rate for publishing five column lines in the newspaper to publish legal notice on
93     the public legal notice website;
94          (b) may not require that the legal notice be published in the newspaper; and
95          (c) at the request of the person publishing on the legal notice website, shall publish in
96     the newspaper up to five column lines, at no additional charge, that briefly describe the legal
97     notice and provide the web address where the full public legal notice can be found.
98          (7) If a newspaper offers to publish the type of legal notice described in Subsection (5),
99     it may not refuse to publish the type of legal notice described in Subsection (6).
100          (8) Notwithstanding the requirements of a statute that requires the publication of legal
101     notice, if legal notice is required by law to be published by a local district or a special service
102     district with an annual operating budget of $250,000 or more, the local district or special
103     service district shall satisfy its legal notice publishing requirements by:
104          (a) mailing a written notice, postage prepaid:
105          (i) to each voter in the local district or special service district; and
106          (ii) that contains the information required by the statute that requires the publication of
107     legal notice; or
108          (b) publishing the legal notice in a newspaper and on the legal public notice website as
109     described in Subsection (5).
110          (9) Notwithstanding the requirements of a statute that requires the publication of legal
111     notice, if legal notice is required by law to be published by a local district or a special service
112     district with an annual operating budget of less than $250,000, the local district or special
113     service district shall satisfy its legal notice publishing requirements by:
114          (a) mailing a written notice, postage prepaid:
115          (i) to each voter in the local district or special service district; and
116          (ii) that contains the information required by the statute that requires the publication of
117     legal notice; or
118          (b) publishing the legal notice in a newspaper and on the public legal notice website as
119     described in Subsection (5); or
120          (c) publishing the legal notice on the public legal notice website as described in

121     Subsection (6).