St. Paul, MN - Today, the Minnesota House of Representatives approved legislation requiring public notices, in addition to physical publishing requirements, be published in the electronic edition of qualified newspapers.
The bill, HF 3682, authored by State Representative Gene Pelowski (DFL - Winona), places the requirement on the newspapers, not the public notice filer, to ensure that the notice is published electronically.
“This bill modernizes the state law on public notices, which hasn’t seen an update in 30 years,” said Rep. Pelowski. “In a time of technological changes and population shifts, it makes sense to synchronize the distribution of public notices in both print and digital formats.”
Additionally, the bill requires that the newspapers post the notice on the Minnesota Newspaper Association’s public notice website and make the public notice section of their website free to the public. The bill also standardizes the space requirement for public notices by eliminating a population threshold and replacing it with a qualification that the newspaper be of general circulation in the area or where it is likely that the intended recipients will become aware of the notice. Finally, the bill adds a provision that, where a newspaper commits a publication error for these notices, the newspaper cannot charge for the publication.
The bill passed on a vote of 116-18. Video recording of today’s floor debate can be found on the House Public Information YouTube channel.
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