A 5241

ASSEMBLY, No. 5241
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
INTRODUCED JUNE 8, 2026
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman� CLINTON CALABRESE
District 36 (Bergen and Passaic)
SYNOPSIS
���� Allows online news publication to use municipal,
county, or State-wide circulation requirements to meet eligibility standards;
extends grace period for qualifying newspapers.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� As introduced.
��
An Act concerning publication of required legal notices and
amending P.L.2025, c.72 and P.L.2024, c.106.
���� Be It
Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:
���� 1.��� Section 3 of P.L.2025,
c.72 (C.35:3-3) is amended to read as follows:
���� 3.��� a. (1) After March 1,
2026, whenever a corporation, individual, or any other entity that is not a
public entity is required by law or by the order or rule of any court to
publish or advertise a legal notice, the corporation, individual, or other
entity shall publish or advertise the legal notice on an online news
publication that satisfies the requirements of subsection b. of this section.
���� (2)�� The corporation,
individual, or other entity shall select an online news publication based on
the geographic target as established or implied under the law, court order, or
court rule requiring publication.
���� (3)�� A legal notice that
was published or advertised in an online news publication by a corporation,
individual, or any other entity that is not a public entity shall be deemed in
compliance with the geographic, circulation, and other requirements of this section
if the corporation, individual, or other entity demonstrates that a good faith
effort was made to utilize an online news publication that was compliant with
the geographic, circulation, and other requirements of this section.
���� b.��� To be an eligible online
news publication under subsection a. of this section, an online news
publication shall:
���� (1)�� use a domain name for
the Internet website that will be easily recognizable and understandable to
users of the website as belonging to that online news publication;
���� (2)�� maintain the online news
publication on the Internet in a manner that is fully accessible and searchable
by members of the public at all times, other than during routine maintenance or
circumstances outside of the operator's control;
���� (3)�� ensure that legal
notices published or advertised on the online news publication comply with the
requirements that would apply to the legal notices if they were published in a
physical newspaper, as applicable;
���� (4)�� maintain an archive for
at least one year of notices that are no longer displayed on the online news
publication;
���� (5)�� display a legal notice
for at least one week, or other time period as required by law, before placing
it in archive;
���� (6)�� enable legal notices,
both those currently displayed and those archived, to be accessed by key word,
by party name, by case number, by county, or other useful identifiers;
���� (7)�� maintain an adequate
security system and develop a contingency plan for coping with and recovering
from power outages, systemic failures, and other unforeseen circumstances;
���� (8)�� not charge a fee or
require registration or a subscription to view legal notices;
���� (9)�� maintain media liability
insurance of up to $1 million;
���� (10) have been in continuous
operation for at least three years, which can be satisfied by the online news
publication itself or by a company that has a controlling or majority interest
in the online news publication; and
���� (11) (a) provide the number of
monthly unique website visits and monthly unique website visits by users in
this State and in each county, as evidenced by IP address or other appropriate
identifier, which shall be prominently displayed on the Internet homepage of
the online news publication along with the criteria provided in this
subsection, or a hyperlink to a webpage displaying such criteria, and whether
the online news publication meets each criteria.
���� (b)�� (i) To qualify as an
online news publication eligible to publish legal notices for municipal-wide
circulation, the online news publication shall receive 4,000 unique monthly
visits on average as calculated annually, no less than 50 percent of which
shall be from IP addresses within the applicable municipality [or],
within a 10-mile radius of the municipality, or within the county in which
the applicable municipality is located.� An online news publication that meets
the county-wide circulation requirements for the county in which the applicable
municipality is located pursuant to subsubparagraph (ii) of this subparagraph,
or which meets the State-wide circulation requirements pursuant to
subsubparagraph (iii) of this subparagraph, shall be deemed to also meet the
municipal-wide circulation requirements to qualify as an online news
publication.
���� (ii) To qualify as an online
news publication eligible to publish legal notices for county-wide circulation,
the online news publication shall receive 50,000 unique monthly visits on
average as calculated annually, no less than 50 percent of which shall be from
IP addresses within the applicable county or within a 10-mile radius of the
county.� An online news publication that meets the State-wide circulation
requirements pursuant to subsubparagraph (iii) of this subparagraph, shall be
deemed to also meet the county-wide circulation requirements to qualify as an
online news publication.
���� (iii) To qualify as an online
news publication eligible to publish legal notices for State-wide circulation,
the online news publication shall receive 350,000 unique monthly visits on
average as calculated annually, no less than 50 percent of which shall be from
IP addresses within the State.
���� c.���� The price to be paid
for publishing all public notices or legal notices in an online news
publication pursuant to P.L.2025, c.72 (C.35:3-1 et al.), shall not exceed the
rates established pursuant to R.S.35:2-1.
���� d.��� Unless otherwise
provided pursuant to applicable law or court rule or order, an online news
publication that receives a legal notice for publication pursuant to this
section shall publish the notice within 24 hours of receipt.
���� e.���� An online news
publication that falsely represents that it meets the criteria established
pursuant to subsection b. of this section and accepts legal notices for
publication shall deemed to have committed an unlawful practice under P.L.1960,
c.39 (C.56:8-1 et seq.) and liable to enforcement by the Attorney General
pursuant to the provisions of P.L.1960, c.39 (C.56:8-1 et seq.).
(cf: P.L.2025, c.72, s.3)
���� 2.��� Section 1 of P.L.2024,
c.106 is amended to read as follows:
���� 1.��� a. �Notwithstanding any law, rule, regulation, or municipal
ordinance to the contrary, a newspaper utilized or permitted to be utilized by
a person for the purpose of complying with any legal requirement, or a public
body, as defined in section 3 of the "Open Public Meetings Act,"
P.L.1975, c.231 (C.10:4-8), from January 1, 2024 through December 31, 2024 for
the purpose of complying with R.S.35:1-2.2 or any other requirements for
issuing or publishing a public notice or legal advertisement, including, but
not limited to, for providing adequate notice of a meeting, the solicitation of
bids, qualifications, or proposals, or the publication of any ordinances,
synopses, or summaries of official documents, shall be deemed eligible for the
same purposes from January 1, 2025 to [March 1, 2026]
December 31, 2026 if the newspaper�s publication is in print or
electronic format.� The price to be paid for publishing all public notices or
legal advertisements in print or electronic format as described in this section
shall not exceed the rates established pursuant to R.S.35:2-1.� A fee shall not
be charged, and registration shall not be required, for viewing public notices
or legal advertisements published in an electronic format.
���� b.��� For the purposes of this
section, "electronic format" means an Internet website and other
technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical,
electromagnetic, or similar capabilities that is operated by or for a newspaper
for publication.
���� 3.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.
STATEMENT
���� Under current law, to qualify
as an online news publication eligible to publish legal notices for
municipal-wide circulation, the online news publication is required to receive
4,000 unique monthly visits on average as calculated annually, no less than 50
percent of which are to be from IP addresses within the applicable municipality
or within a 10-mile radius of the municipality.� This bill amends the law to:
�
also include
the county in which the applicable municipality is located.� Under the bill, if
an online news publication meets the county-wide circulation requirements for
the county in which the applicable municipality is located, or which meets the
State-wide circulation requirements, is deemed to also meet the municipal-wide
circulation requirements to qualify as an online news publication;
�
specify that an
online news publication that meets the State-wide circulation requirements is
deemed to also meet the county-wide circulation requirements to qualify as an
online news publication; and
�
 extend the
grace period for which a newspaper utilized or permitted to be utilized by a
person for the purpose of complying with any legal requirement from January 1,
2025 to December 31, 2026.