The Montgomery County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously on Oct. 20 to adopt the county's 2026 legislative agenda after a motion to remove a provision asking the state to study replacing newspaper publication of public notices with government digital notices failed and was later reconsidered and defeated. The final recorded vote to adopt the legislative agenda was 17-0 after a subsequent motion to reconsider corrected an earlier vote.

The debate centered on a line in the draft agenda that asked state lawmakers to "remove the burden of local governments having to publish public notices in newspapers and provide much better public notice to the public through electronic notices on government websites and social media platforms." Local business owners and residents urged commissioners to keep newspapers in the process.

Dave Gould, owner of Main Street Clarksville, told commissioners the state already requires newspaper notices to be posted online and said many residents rely on print. "There are thousands of people in the county who rely on the newspaper for their news. Some choose not to get their news online or maybe they don't have stable Internet service," Gould said, arguing newspapers provide a permanent record.

Several commissioners framed the dispute as a balance between faster digital delivery and an independent permanent record. Commissioner Ray said the county's social media reach made digital posting "better and easier on the county government" and cited the county's 44,000 social followers and 42,000 monthly website visitors. "If somebody comes up needing a special permit and we gotta wait two weeks and their event needs to happen before two weeks, there's no way we can get it in the newspaper," Ray said.

Commissioner Bill countered that not all residents use social media and said the small cost of newspaper notices was justified to preserve transparency. "We have 250,000 people in the county and I promise you not every person is on social media," he said. Several other commissioners urged keeping the item on the agenda so the state could study the issue rather than immediately change legal requirements.

The commission first approved a motion to remove the newspaper provision from the legislative agenda; that amendment was brought to a vote and failed, 7 yes to 10 no. Following the full discussion the commission voted to adopt the legislative agenda; because one commissioner later indicated she had voted in error, a motion to reconsider passed 17-0 and the legislative agenda was adopted on the renewed vote, 17-0.

The record shows the item was pulled from the consent agenda for separate consideration before the debate and final votes. Commissioners emphasized that any change to public-notice publication ultimately depends on state law and would require state action before the county could change its practice.

Public comment before the action included three residents and the local newspaper owner pressing commissioners to preserve newspaper publication for legal notices. Commissioners who favored studying digital options said the agenda request merely asks the state to consider alternatives, not to immediately eliminate newspaper publication.

The commission also approved the remainder of the consent agenda as amended earlier in the meeting by a 17-0 vote.

Looking ahead, commissioners said they expect the legislative agenda to be forwarded to the county's legislative liaison committee for transmission to state officials for study and possible action next year.