Council gives staff go‑ahead to pursue county website legal advertising option

Oak Ridge town staff will pursue a public‑hearing and ordinance change process to permit posting town legal advertisements on the Guilford County website, after council indicated general support on Sept. 4.

Assistant Town Manager (Smith) briefed the council on a 2017 state local law (often called the “Trudy Wade law”) that created a Guilford‑County pilot allowing participating municipalities to place required legal notices on the county website in lieu of newspaper publication. Staff reported recent research showing newspaper legal ads since July 1, 2024 averaged about $580 each and sometimes exceeded $1,000 per insertion; county posting would cost $10 per ad under the pilot.

Council discussed past hesitancy and the county’s approach to implementing the law. A council member summarized earlier concerns that the statutory amendments had not been fully codified; another council member with longer institutional memory said that after seven years of county practice without legal challenges and with the county’s offer to host ads at a lower cost, the town should proceed.

Council reached consensus to have staff schedule the necessary public hearings (including Planning & Zoning consideration for ordinance amendment) and to pursue an e‑notice publication agreement with Guilford County. Staff emphasized the next formal steps will be a public hearing and then, if approved, an agreement with the county to accept electronic publication as meeting local statutory notice requirements.