The Connecticut House of Representatives passed a bill eliminating requirements for towns to take out newspaper ads for legal notices after a passionate vote on Thursday, April 9. The proposed bill, HB 5289, “An Act Concerning the Publication of Municipal Legal Notices,” would require towns to publish announcements online, but not in a newspaper.
Currently, towns are required to post legal notices in newspapers, and have the option of posting these notices on their websites. If passed, the bill would swap the requirements: the town would have to post legal notices online, but have the option of posting them in newspapers.
This law would not impact probate court notices.
Proponents of this bill point toward declining newspaper subscriptions and circulations. Because of dropping circulation and advertising revenue, in recent years, newspapers across the state have been cutting back on their publishing schedules, moving online, being purchased by larger corporations or, in the worst-case scenarios, ceasing their operations.
“A lot of newspapers have gone online; they’re not in a printed form—it’s great when they are—but there are circulation numbers that are actually tied to the legality of those notices,” Rep. Eleni Kavros DeGraw (D-Avon). “I believe that many towns and cities are operating outside the law, because… the circulation of a lot of these papers is so low that it’s not really meeting the (notice) requirements.”
In order to meet their legal obligations, towns need to publish legal notices in newspapers with “substantial circulation.” The law does not define what constitutes a substantial circulation, but in the past, a Connecticut Appellate Court ruled that if 16% of residents in a town receive a newspaper, that meets the requirement. However, 16% is not a minimum threshold.
Kavros DeGraw referenced the 2024 Connecticut Supreme Court decision in 9 Pettipaug, LLC v. Planning & Zoning Commission of the Borough of Fenwick. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit owned property in Fenwick, a residential area in Old Saybrook, claiming that they were not sufficiently notified of a real estate development. The legal notice was published in The Middletown Press, which none of Fenwick’s 67 residents subscribed to. The residents claimed that they were not sufficiently notified of these developments. However, the Supreme Court determined that since Fenway residents could buy papers at local stores, and the notice was published online and was not blocked by a paywall, the Fenwick Planning & Zoning Commission met its legal requirements.
Even though the plaintiffs lost the case, their lawsuit highlights an important thing: many people do not read local newspapers.
But it’s not clear if publishing notices online would reach more people. Many towns do not keep track of their website circulation or the number of unique views their websites receive online.
“The argument, to me, on the circulation of newspapers doesn’t make any sense if you can’t prove that the website is getting just as much,” Mastrofrancesco said.
Mastrofrancesco owns a monthly newspaper that does not publish town legal notices.
She also pointed out that some populations rely on newspapers for information.
“Senior citizens are not online every day looking to see what notifications they have,” Rep. Gale Mastrofrancesco (R-Wolcott) said. “When it’s no longer in your local newspaper or a major publication, it’s out of sight, out of mind, and transparency goes out the window.”
But there is another argument to consider: the cost of publishing ads in newspapers. In Connecticut, there is no statute regulating the rate that a newspaper can charge a municipal body to display an advertisement.
“I am sympathetic to the cost element, but I don’t think that it’s relevant here,” Rep. Mike Demico (D-Farmington) said. “That’s the job of the government—to inform people.”
Despite these concerns, the bill prevailed.
The House of Representatives passed the bill with 96-48 vote, with seven members not voting. The bill will need to be discussed and voted on in the Senate before it can be signed into law.
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When it comes to home tax auction sales I believe there could be a scam with town posting auction in fine print hidden within newspapers out
of town. In my town I know some people had no idea thier home was due to be auctioned !