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District staff explain new law requiring online posting of legal notices
Summary
Mr. Burns told the board that Senate Bill S4654 requires public entities to post legal notices on their websites beginning March 1, 2026, keep them online for one week and archived for a year, and send links to the Secretary of State; the Secretary’s public-notice database was not yet operational.
At a board session covering budget and finance, Mr. Burns briefed members on Senate Bill S4654 and what it will require of public entities starting March 1, 2026.
Mr. Burns said the law requires that legal notices—RFPs, resolutions, ordinances, property-sale notices and other items previously requiring newspaper publication—be posted in a conspicuous place on the public entity’s website for at least one week and then archived for one year. The district already posts legal notices on its website and is complying with the statute’s posting requirement.
The law also directs public entities to send a link for each notice to the New Jersey Secretary of State for inclusion in a centralized public-notice database. Mr. Burns told the board the Secretary of State’s notice database was not yet set up, though the district has emailed the office to begin the process.
Mr. Burns noted a transitional requirement: from Jan. 1 through Feb. 29, 2026, the district must publish legal notices both online and in newspapers twice monthly; the district reported it is complying with that transition provision.
Board members asked clarifying questions about the short newspaper blurb required by the statute directing readers to the online notice; staff confirmed that the print item needs only a short notice that links readers to the website posting. Staff will follow up as the Secretary of State’s database comes online and will update board procedures accordingly.
