Jordan Public Schools board votes to use district website for legal notices, pending legislative clarification
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Summary
The Jordan Public School District board approved using its website as the official place for legal notices at its Jan. 5 meeting, with the Henderson Independent as fallback and administration directed to monitor relevant state legislation about a possible sunset of website authority.
The Jordan Public School District board voted Jan. 5 to use the district website as its official location for publishing legal notices, with the Henderson Independent named as a fallback option if legislation requires a printed newspaper of record.
Superintendent Nielsen said the $0 cost option of the district website has been the only viable path for several years because no newspaper within district boundaries can currently demonstrate the statutory subscriber threshold for a newspaper of record. "This is the number that we've had in place for the past several years," Nielsen said, explaining the finance and communications review that supported the recommendation.
During discussion board members raised access concerns for residents who do not regularly visit the district website and suggested sharing links on the city site as a supplemental notice. A board member asked about what would happen if the Henderson Independent ceased operations; administration said the district would seek the next closest legal newspaper if required.
An exchange in the meeting referenced a statutory threshold that a newspaper must prove at least 400 subscribers within district boundaries to qualify as a newspaper of record. A board member stated local counts for the Star Tribune within the Jordan district were about 230 subscribers when last checked, supporting the administration's recommendation to adopt the website pending legislative confirmation.
The board recorded the motion to adopt the website, with language noting the decision is "pending legislation" and that the Henderson Independent would serve as the district's fallback publication should statutory requirements change. The superintendent said MSBA lobbyist Denise Dietrich will continue researching the legislative status and keep the district informed.
Next steps: administration will monitor state legislative action on legal notices, publish legal notices on the district website while tracking any statutory change, and provide updates to the board if the law changes.