Senate Finance Committee backs House Bill 773 as amended after debate on online notice requirements and fiscal impact

The Senate Finance Committee on April 22 recommended passage, as amended, of House Bill 773, a measure that would require most legal notices published in newspapers of general circulation also to be published on a separate, qualifying news and information website if such a website exists.

Senator Yeager, the bill sponsor on the floor of the committee, explained the amendment as adding an additional layer of transparency while noting the change does not eliminate newspapers of general circulation. “It simply adds another layer of transparency for legal notices to the general public,” Yeager said, and added that the statute defines a qualifying news and information website with a set of requirements.

Megan Moore of the Office of Legal Services told the committee the statutory language has statewide application but that the law applies only where a news and information website meeting statutory criteria exists. Moore read the statute currently codified as Tennessee Code Annotated 13-1-120(f): “Beginning 07/01/2024, when legal notices are required to be published in a newspaper of general circulation, the notice must also be published on a news and information website that has a URL if such a website exist.” Moore explained the existing statute sets out seven specific qualifying criteria and that this year’s bill would add two additional criteria.

According to Moore, the seven criteria in current law require that a qualifying news and information website: have been published continuously for the previous 12 months; adhere to recognized standards of professional journalism; publish content at least three times per week; bear a fixed title or name and datelines; comply with copyright law; not primarily serve as a platform promoting a special interest or cause; have at least 50% original editorial content (excluding advertisements); and be registered with the secretary of state with a known office of publication in the county where the notice is required.

Committee members pressed on fiscal effects. A committee member described the scope of notices as potentially large — noting the state issues many notices annually — and asked whether the cost of posting to a qualifying website had been budgeted. One senator described the change as potentially creating an unfunded mandate if additional costs fall to local governments. The committee reviewed a fiscal note that stated no specific state cost could be determined.

After debate, the committee called the question and recorded a final tally of 7 ayes, 3 noes and 1 present not voting; the committee recommended House Bill 773, as amended, for passage to the committee on the calendar. Senator Yeager moved the bill; the motion was properly seconded. The committee did not appropriate funding to cover web-publication costs during the hearing and members noted that the statutory criteria limit where the additional publication requirement would apply (Moore said only a small number of counties currently meet the qualifying criteria).