Committee advances public‑notice registry and passes bills on tourism, AG procedures, government review and sports commission

The House Government and Regulatory Reform Committee, chaired by Representative Doug Miller, advanced five bills and amendments during a busy session that focused on modernizing public notice rules, clarifying tourism district agreements, updating Attorney General office procedures, reviewing state boards and compacts, and creating a regional professional sports development commission.

The largest and most contentious item was House Bill 13‑12, which would create a searchable statewide public‑notice registry run through the Office of Technology and offer local governments the option to post legally required notices online rather than rely solely on newspapers. Representative Melzer said the registry would operate in phases (counties under 50,000 first, then 100,000, then statewide) to avoid an initial influx of notices and to allow early problems to be worked out. “This basically allows the state and local units to decide how they want to do these publications,” Melzer said.

Supporters including Accelerate Indiana Municipalities and the Association of Indiana Counties told the panel online posting would save local governments time and money and improve timeliness for projects and procurement. Isabel Elliot of Accelerate Indiana Municipalities said many small cities are constrained by single weekly newspapers and that a statewide, searchable site would provide a “central place to look” for notices. Ryan Hoff of the Association of Indiana Counties said counties spend tens of thousands of dollars a year on legal advertising and cited Hendricks County as an example that spent roughly $93,000 with local publishers.

Newspaper publishers and the Hoosier State Press Association opposed removing newspapers as the primary vehicle for public notices. Amelia McClure, executive director…