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Senate amends legal-notice rules to keep newspaper publication, cap pricing and preserve utahlegals.com
Summary
Senate Bill 85, updating legal-notice publication and pricing rules and preserving newspaper and online publication through utahlegals.com, passed after a floor amendment exempting certain UDOT notices from newspaper publication was adopted.
Senator Urquhart presented Senate Bill 85 to refine the state's legal-notice system, which the Legislature previously moved to a public-notice website. The bill keeps legal notices in both the newspaper and online while setting a cap on pricing (news organizations not charging more than 50% of their average ad rate for legal notices) and preserves transparency by keeping multiple publication channels.
Urquhart told the Senate the Utah Press Association cooperated on the public-notice website (utahlegals.com) and that the bill was intended to improve notice quality and control costs. Before the floor vote, Urquhart offered Amendment 2 to exempt certain UDOT construction/construction-bid notices from newspaper publication if those notices are delivered via RSS and have a discrete audience; the body adopted the amendment.
Senator Maine and others voiced support for preserving multiple modes of public notice to ensure citizens can find legal documents. The bill passed the floor and was placed on the third-reading calendar.
Why it matters: Legal notices are a statutory tool to inform citizens about actions (foreclosures, administrative processes) that affect rights. Changes affect how easily residents see notices, how newspapers monetize notices, and the costs agencies pay to publish mandated notices.
Next steps: SB85 moves toward third reading and final passage.
