Staying focused on online legal notices

Utah Press is working hard to make sure all newspaper notices are posted online at utahlegals.com. We have a looming deadline of Jan. 1, 2010 when all newspaper legal notices must be posted on the Web site. As you may recall, legal notices for smaller newspapers will be required in the newspaper and the Web site. Government entities in the state’s largest counties will be required to post notices on the Utah Legals Web site. Utah Press has designated a special Legal Notice Committee that will be working on the details of the Web site. If your newspaper has not started posting legal notices, please contact the UPA offices to have them help you get notices online. The committee will also be reviewing the status of the notices to keep legislators updated. As of Aug. 1, there are notices from some newspapers that are not yet appearing on the Web site. UPA hopes to have the Web site in beta test mode in September so we can begin showing it to legislators. We would like it to be fully functioning by Nov. 1 with the legal launch date as Jan. 1.

Truth in Taxation notices need special handling

As UPA proceeds with the legal notices Web site, we need to transfer all Truth in Taxation notices from their display format into text and transmit them to the legal notices Web site. This may require a special conversion. The Web site will have a clickable button that will display all notices. This was a high priority for legislators who approved the Web site.

Legal notice bill tweaked in Special Session

The bill that created Utah’s new legal notice system was tweaked during the May special session. In addition to earlier requirements contained in the bill, SB1002, during the regular session, self-service storage unit notices are now subject to the law. The bill expands the definition of legal notice to include:

-- a communication required to be made public by a state statute or state agency rule;

-- or a notice required for judicial proceedings or by judicial decision.

Legal Line Rate Changes

Effective May 12, 2009, the allowable fee charged for legal notices for cities of fourth and fifth class changed. Publishers may now charge the “open net rate” charged for similar advertisements. Here’s the language from the Utah Code if you need to show it to public officials:

Section 1. Section 45-1-2 of the Utah Code is amended to read: On the basis of a minimum of an eight-point type, a rate charged I each city of the fourth and fifth class and each town for the publishing of any notice, advertisement, or publication of any kind required by law may not be greater than the open net rate charged for a similar notice, advertisement, or publication by any other advertiser.

Judges give preliminary nod to running notices

The Administrative Office of the Courts reports that a panel of district court judges has approved the concept of running summons and other types of court notices on the Utahlegals.com Web site. Later this summer, a meeting of all judges will hear the recommendations to use the Web site as the preferred legal notice repository for the Utah State Courts.

New rules for meeting minutes and recordings

The legislature also changed the rules regarding minutes of public meetings through SB 26. The changes require: Written minutes must be available to the public within a reasonable time. The minutes are considered public when prepared in a form awaiting only formal approval and identified as "unapproved" before approval. A recording of an open meeting must be available to the public within three business days.

GRAMA and online audits

The following are on the Legislature’s master study resolution for work during the interim:

-- GRAMA Issues - to study a balancing test for the release of records and other GRAMA issues (H.B. 122).

-- Online Access to Audits and Budgets - to study whether to require that budgets and audits of government entities be posted online.

State starts transparency Web site

The Sutherland Institute is touting Utah's Transparency Website because it cost 40 percent less than expected.

"The total cost, to date, to launch this outstanding citizen resource is $283,251, which is 41 percent less than the projected price tag for the current fiscal year: $480,400. The preliminary cost estimate – a fiscal note attached to the legislation that created the website - cited hardware, software, and personnel hours as the source of the costs. The State Division of Finance, however, was able to stay below the original estimate by purchasing less expensive hardware and by using current staff for the website project, rather than hiring new employees."

Still sounds like a lot of money to me. As with any online-only initiative how does anyone find out about this Web site? They are still missing a key - newspapers.