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Marion County panel recommends allowing legal notices on county website
Summary
The Marion County Land Development Regulation Commission voted to recommend code changes permitting required legal advertisements to be posted on a publicly accessible county website as an alternative to newspaper publication; the item will go to the Board of County Commissioners for two public hearings in September 2025.
The Marion County Land Development Regulation Commission voted unanimously to recommend amendments that would allow required legal advertisements to appear on a publicly accessible county website instead of only in a newspaper.
Daniel Lehi, chief assistant county attorney, told the commission the proposed changes modify three sections of the Land Development Code to add a website publication option and align with Florida Statutes. “Staff was given direction to update the ordinance to allow for not only legal advertisements in the newspaper, but also on a publicly accessible website,” Lehi said. He told the commission the same approach will be incorporated into a general county ordinance so other county-code notice requirements can also be met by website posting.
The commission approved taking items 2.1, 2.2 and 2.3 forward in a single motion. Christopher Howson moved to approve the items and Robert Stepp seconded; the chair called for the vote and the motion “passes unanimously.” Lehi said, if recommended by the commission, the first public hearing before the Board of County Commissioners is scheduled for Sept. 3, 2025, at 5:30 p.m., with a second hearing on Sept. 16 at 10:00 a.m.
There were no public commenters who addressed these items during the hearing, and the commission did not change the text at the meeting. The recommendation returns the amendments to the county commission for formal hearings and possible adoption.
The change would replace or supplement newspaper publication with posting to a publicly accessible website that meets the requirements cited to Florida Statutes Chapter 50, and would be folded into a countywide ordinance covering other code provisions.
