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Committee introduces RS31961 to let governments post notices on a central state website
Summary
Representatives introduced RS31961, which would allow entities required to publish legal notices to post them on a central state website maintained by the State Controller's Office, create subscription alerts and optionally use existing mailings for notice delivery; a fiscal estimate of about $570,000 drew questions about implementation.
The Idaho House State Affairs Committee introduced RS31961, a proposal to allow governmental and other entities required by statute to publish notices to instead post them on a central state website managed by the State Controllers Office.
Representative Jeff Ehlers, R–District 21 (Meridian), said the State Controller already operates infrastructure such as Town Hall Idaho and that the proposed system would act as a central registry (he suggested a likely address such as publicnotices.idaho.gov) where entities could post notices and users could subscribe to receive electronic alerts for items near their homes or of specific interest. Ehlers said the system would allow electronic notification of public works project opportunities but would not permit conducting bids on the site; it would function as a centralized public-notice repository.
Questions from lawmakers focused on implementation and cost. Representative Barbieri asked about a fiscal estimate; Ehlers said the State Controllers Office provided an estimate of about $570,000 to build the receiving functionality and modify existing systems. Representative Barbieri asked whether the Controllers Office staff would be available at a future hearing to discuss the estimate; Ehlers said he would invite them. Representative Alfieri asked whether the proposal would replace printed notices; Ehlers said publication in print would remain an option and that the electronic posting is an additional option (the draft uses permissive language).
Representative Deigert asked how average residents in smaller counties would find notices; Ehlers said the value of a single central site is that residents would not need to track multiple newspapers or jurisdictional sites. Representative Pohanka asked whether notices could be mailed via utility bills; Ehlers said the draft allows the use of regular mailings (for example utility statements) to deliver notices.
Representative Deiger moved to introduce RS31961 for printing; the committee approved the motion by voice vote. The transcript does not show a roll-call tally. Ehlers said the Controllers Office had asked for staggered implementation and that some development work would be required to accept the different notice formats.
