Board hears how S4654 will move legal-notice posting from print to district website

Mr. Burns briefed the Toms River board on changes made by Senate Bill S4654, signed June 30, 2025, that alter how public legal notices are published.

“Beginning March 1st, 2026, public entities must publish their legal notices on their website in a conspicuous location,” Mr. Burns said, adding that the district has already complied with posting notices online. He explained that notices must remain on the public entity’s website for at least one week and then be archived for a year.

Mr. Burns said that, while online posting will be sufficient to meet the Open Public Meetings Act going forward, there is a transitional requirement that between Jan. 1 and March 1, 2026 the district must publish legal notices twice per month both on its website and in newspapers; the district is complying with that requirement. He also said the Secretary of State will host a centralized database of public notices but that the database is not yet operational and the district has only emailed the Secretary of State to be included once it is live.

Board members asked whether the short paper notices required during the transition may merely direct readers to the website; Mr. Burns confirmed newspapers may carry a blurb pointing readers to the website where the full notice will appear and that the district’s practice will be to include the full notice on its website and provide the Secretary of State link when available.

No policy vote was taken; the briefing was informational and staff will continue to implement changes and monitor the Secretary of State’s database roll-out.