title
RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION AUTHORIZING LOCAL GOVERNMENTS TO PUBLISH LEGAL NOTICES ON THEIR OFFICIAL GOVERNMENT WEBSITES, PURSUANT TO N.J.S.A. 40:20-1
body
WHEREAS, the County of Passaic (“County”) is a body politic and corporate pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:18-1 and vested with all rights contained therein; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:20-1, the Board of County Commissioners of the County of Passaic (“Board”) is vested with managing the property, finances, and affairs of the County; and
WHEREAS, N.J.S.A. 35:1-2.2 imposes certain requirements with respect to notices and announcements that are required by law to be published in a newspaper, including the requirement that such newspapers must be physically printed and published; and
WHEREAS, NJ Advance Media announced in October 2024 that in early it would end the print publications of several daily newspapers in early 2025, including the Star-Ledger, the Times of Trenton, the South Jersey Times, as well as the weekly Hunterdon County Democrat; and
WHEREAS, as a temporary solution, the state legislature enacted P.L. 2024 c.106, which allowed for digital publications to satisfy the requirements of N.J.S.A. 35:1-2.2, from January 1, 2025 to March 1, 2025; and
WHEREAS, the sunset provision of P.L. 2024 c.106 will soon take effect, and it is imperative that the legislative enact a permanent solution; and
WHEREAS, long before NJ Advance Media’s announcement that it would be terminating daily print publications, local government officials found it increasingly difficult to comply with notice requirements under the law as the newspaper industry has become almost exclusively digitized and struggled to retain staff, resources, and publications; and
WHEREAS, local government officials serve as the stewards of property taxpayer dollars and should no longer be required to subsidize the newspaper industry with revenues collected from publishing legal notices in the press; and
WHEREAS, legislation authorizing local governments to publish legal notices on their official government websites would streamline an antiquated and overly burdensome process and save valuable time, resources, and property taxpayer dollars; and
NOW, THEREFORE, LET IT BE RESOLVED, that the Board of County Commissioners of the County of Passaic urges its state’s leaders to pass legislation authorizing local governments, such as counties and municipalities, to publish legal notices in a clear, transparent, and timely manner on their official government websites.
LET IT BE FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Clerk of the Board is authorized and directed to forward a certified copy of this Resolution to Governor Phil Murphy, Senate President Nicholas Scutari, and Speaker of the General Assembly Craig Coughlin.
NB February 11, 2025