SB 343 — Legal Notices/Newsprint Employees.

(a) If the newspaper maintains an Internet Website displaying the contents of the newspaper, then, at no additional charge, each notice must be placed on that newspaper's Internet Website on the same day that the notice appears in the print newspaper.

The newspaper shall comply with all of the following with respect to the Internet Website display:

(1) A hyperlink to legal notices shall be provided on the front page of the newspaper's Internet Website that provides access to the legal notices without charge.

(2) If there is a specified size and placement required for a printed legal notice, the size and placement of the notice on the newspaper's Internet Website shall optimize its online visibility in keeping with the print requirement.

(3) The newspaper's Internet Website pages that contain legal notices shall present the legal notices as the dominant subject matter of those pages.

(4) The newspaper's Internet Website shall contain a search function to facilitate searching legal notices.

(5) Notification for the electronic mail registry, as required by subsection (b) of this section, shall be available on the front page of the legal notices section of the newspaper's Internet Website.

(b) Upon request of a person, newspapers that publish notices shall provide electronic mail notification to that person of legal notices when such notices are printed in the newspaper or added to the newspaper's Internet Website.

The electronic mail notification shall be provided without charge.

(c)(e) Any error in the placement of a governmental legal notice on a newspaper's Internet WebsiteWeb orsite shall be considered harmless error and the deliveryrequirement of anproper electroniclegal mailnotice notification shall be considereddeemed harmlessto error.have been met if the governmental entity placing the notice also places the notice on its own Internet Web site under an ordinance adopted in accordance with G.S.

The153A-52.2. requirement of proper legal notice shall be deemed to have been met if the notice is properly published in the print edition of the newspaper.

Senate Bill 343*-Second Edition Page 3 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2017 (d) Any owner or manager of a newspaper willfully violating the provisions of subsection (b) of this section shall be guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor.

1-597, shall include in the affidavit of publication of such notice, paper, document or legal advertisement a statement that Senate Bill 343*-First Edition Page 3 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2017 at the time of such publication such newspaper was a qualified newspaper within the meaning of G.S.

"§ 1-600.5.

Procedure when no newspaper is qualified in a county.

Page 4 Senate Bill 343*-Second Edition General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2017 Whenever a notice or any other paper, document, or legal advertisement of any kind or description shall be authorized or required by any of the laws of this State, or by any order of the courts of this State, to be published or advertised in a newspaper and there is no newspaper qualified under G.S.

1-597 in the county of publication, then it shall be deemed sufficient compliance to publish in a newspaper qualified under G.S.

1-597 in an adjoining county or another county in the same judicial district or set of districts.

ReservedPublication forvia futurecounty-maintained codificationWeb purposes.site.

(a) In lieu of publishing in a newspaper in accordance with this Article, publication of any notice permitted or required by law to be published in a newspaper may be accomplished by contracting with a county who has adopted an ordinance under G.S.

153A-458 to publish such notice on the county-maintained Web site.

(b) The county shall charge fees as follows for such publication:

(1) For foreclosures, except those initiated by that county, four hundred fifty dollars ($450.00).

(2) For other notices, except those by the State or any other political subdivision thereof, one hundred dollars ($100.00).

(3) For notices by the State or any other political subdivision thereof, other than that county, ten dollars ($10.00).

(4) For notices by that county, no fee shall be charged.

(c) All fees collected under this section shall be distributed as follows:

(1) Ten percent (10%) for administrative costs of the county.

(2) Forty percent (40%) to the county general fund.

(3) Fifty percent (50%) to the local board of education for payment of local supplements for teachers as defined by G.S.

115C-325.1(6).

(d) Whenever a county has published a notice or any other paper, document, or legal advertisement within the meaning of G.S.

1-597 and a county employee makes a written statement under oath taken before any notary public or other officer or person authorized by Page 4 Senate Bill 343*-First Edition General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2017 law to administer oaths, stating that the county placed such notice, paper, document, or legal advertisement upon its Web site, such sworn written statement shall be received in all courts in this State as prima facie evidence that the county placed the notice, paper, document, or legal advertisement upon its Web site for the stated period of time.

When filed in the office of the clerk of the superior court of that county, any such sworn statement shall be deemed to be a record of the court, and such record or a copy thereof duly certified by the clerk shall be prima facie evidence that the county placed the notice, paper, document, or legal advertisement upon its Web site for the stated period of time.

(e) Nothing in this section requires a county to adopt an ordinance under G.S.

153A-458 and publish notices on a county-maintained Web site.

Reserved for future codification purposes." SECTION 1.(b)2. G.S.

45-21.17(1)b.Part 3 of Article 4 of Chapter 153A of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:

reads"§ as153A-52.2. rewritten:

"b.Electronic notice for notices required to be published by the board.

And(a) Except as provided in additionthis thereto,section, 1.the governing board may adopt an ordinance providing that any notice it is required by law to publish or advertise, whether under G.S.

The1-597, noticeunder shallArticle be8 publishedof onceChapter a143 weekof forthe atGeneral leastStatutes, twounder successiveany weeksother ingeneral alaw, newspaperor under any local act, may be published andelectronically qualifiedas forprovided legalby advertisingthis pursuantsection in lieu of or in addition to G.S.the required publication or advertisement.

1-597The inordinance themay countycover inall whichnotices therequired propertyto isbe situated.published or advertised or a clearly identified category of notices.

2.(b) Upon adoption of an ordinance under subsection (a) of this section, the governing board shall publish specific instructions as to how to access all notices published electronically under the ordinance adopted pursuant to this section at least once a month for 12 months in a newspaper having a general circulation for that jurisdiction, as provided in G.S.

If1-597. no such newspaper is published qualified in the that county, then notice shall be published once a week for at least two successive weeks in a newspaper having a general circulation in the county.accordance with G.S.

1-600.5.(c) Any notice published under an ordinance adopted pursuant to subsection (a) of this section shall comply with all of the following:

3.(1) The notice is published on the Web site of the governing board no later than the time that publication is required under the applicable statute or local act.

In(2) additionThe toWeb thesite requiredcontains, newspaper advertisement, the clerk may in his discretion, on applicationits ofmain anypage, interestedlinks party, authorize such additional advertisement as in the opinion of the clerk will serve the interest of the parties, and permit the charges for such further advertisement to beall taxednotices asor a partlink ofto theanother costspage ofwith thelinks foreclosure." SECTION 1.(c) This section becomes effective October 1, 2017, and applies to noticesall thatnotices. must be published on or after that date.

SECTION(3) 2.Notices and links to all notices on the Web site shall be maintained on that Web site for at least one year after publication and shall be searchable.

(4) A copy of the notice shall be filed in a notice book maintained separate and apart from the ordinance book or minutes of the governing board.

The notice book shall be appropriately indexed and maintained for public inspection in the office of the clerk or in the office of another individual who is an employee of the governing board, as designated in the ordinance adopted pursuant to this section.

(5) A copy of the notice shall be mailed or e-mailed to any person who has filed a written request for notice with the clerk or secretary of the governing board or with some other person designated by the governing board.

The governing board may require each person submitting such a written request for notice to renew that request annually.

(d) Ordinances adopted pursuant to this section may not supersede any general law or local act that requires notice by mail to certain persons or classes of persons or the posting of signs on certain property.

(e) The ordinance adopted by the governing board may control notice given by any board appointed by the governing board, including the planning board, board of social services, and board of health.

Senate Bill 343*-First Edition Page 5 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2017 (f) For purposes of this section, "governing board" means the body elected or appointed as the board of county commissioners, city council, or county board of elections." SECTION 3.

97-2(2)160A-1(7) reads as rewritten:

"(2)"(7) Employee."Publish," "publication," and other forms of the verb "to publish" mean insertion any of the following:

–a. The term "employee" means every person engaged in an employment under any appointment or contract of hire or apprenticeship, express or implied, oral or written, including aliens, and also minors, whether lawfully or unlawfully employed, but excluding persons whose employment is both casual and not in the course of the trade, business, profession, or occupation of his employer, and as relating to those so employed by the State, the term "employee" shall include all officers and employees of the State, including such as are elected by the people, or by the General Assembly, or appointed by the Governor to serve on a per diem, part-time or fee basis, either with or without the confirmation of the Senate;

asInsertion relatingin toa municipalnewspaper corporationsqualified andunder politicalG.S. subdivisions of the State, the term "employee" shall include all officers and employees thereof, including such as are elected by the people.

The1-597 termto "employee"publish shalllegal includeadvertisements membersin of the Northcounty Carolinaor Nationalcounties Guardin whilewhich on State active duty under orders of the Governorcity andis memberslocated. of the North Carolina State Defense Militia while on State active duty under orders of the Governor.

Theb. Senate Bill 343*-Second Edition Page 5 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2017 term "employee" shall include deputy sheriffs and all persons acting in the capacity of deputy sheriffs, whether appointed by the sheriff or by the governing body of the county and whether serving on a fee basis or on a salary basis, or whether deputy sheriffs serving upon a full-time basis or a part-time basis, and including deputy sheriffs appointed to serve in an emergency, but as to those so appointed, only during the continuation of the emergency.

TheElectronic sheriffnotice, shallas furnishprovided toin theG.S. board of county commissioners a complete list of all deputy sheriffs named or appointed by him immediately after their appointment and notify the board of commissioners of any changes made therein promptly after such changes are made.

Any153A-52.2, referenceif to an employeeordinance who has been injuredadopted shall,by when the employeegoverning isboard." dead,SECTION include4. also the employee's legal representative, dependents, and other persons to whom compensation may be payable:

Provided,G.S. further, that any employee, as herein defined, of a municipality, county, or of the State of North Carolina, while engaged in the discharge of the employee's official duty outside the jurisdictional or territorial limits of the municipality, county, or the State of North Carolina and while acting pursuant to authorization or instruction from any superior officer, shall have the same rights under this Article as if such duty or activity were performed within the territorial boundary limits of their employer.

Except153A-1(6) asreads otherwise provided herein, every executive officer elected or appointed and empowered in accordance with the charter and bylaws of a corporation shall be considered as anrewritten: employee of such corporation under this Article.

Any"(6) such"Publish," executive"publication," officerand of a corporation may, notwithstanding any other provisionforms of this Article, be exempt from the coverageverb of"to thepublish" corporation'smean insuranceinsertion contractany by such corporation's specifically excluding such executive officer in such contract of insurance, and the exclusionfollowing: to remove such executive officer from the coverage shall continue for the period such contract of insurance is in effect, and during such period such executive officers thus exempted from the coverage of the insurance contract shall not be employees of such corporation under this Article.

Alla. county agricultural extension service employees who do not receive official federal appointments as employees of the United States Department of Agriculture and who are field faculty members with professional rank as designated in the memorandum of understanding between the North Carolina Agricultural Extension Service, North Carolina State University, A & T State University, and the boards of county commissioners shall be deemed to be employees of the State of North Carolina.

AllInsertion other county agricultural extension service employees paid from State or county funds shall be deemed to be employees of the county board of commissioners in thea countynewspaper inqualified whichunder theG.S. employee is employed for purposes of workers' compensation.

The1-597 termto "employee"publish shalllegal alsoadvertisements includein members of the Civilcounty. Air Patrol currently certified pursuant to G.S.

143B-1031(a)b. when performing duties in the course and scope of a State-approved mission pursuant to Subpart C of Part 5 of Article 13 of Chapter 143B of the General Statutes.

"Employee"Electronic shallnotice, not include any person performing voluntary service as aprovided skiin patrolmanG.S. who receives no compensation for such services other than meals or lodging or the use of ski tow or ski lift facilities or any combination thereof.

Page153A-52.2, 6if Senate Bill 343*-Second Edition General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2017 "Employee" shall not include any person elected or appointed and empowered as an executiveordinance officer,has director,been oradopted committeeby member under the charter,governing articles,board." orSECTION bylaws5. of a nonprofit corporation subject to Chapter 47A, 47C, 47F, 55A, or 59B of the General Statutes, or any organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, who performs only voluntary service for the nonprofit corporation, provided that the person receives no remuneration for the voluntary service other than reasonable reimbursement for expenses incurred in connection with the voluntary service.

When a nonprofit corporation as described herein employs one or more persons who do receive remuneration other than reasonable reimbursement for expenses, then any volunteer officers, directors, or committee members excluded from the definition of "employee" by operation of this paragraph shall be counted as employees for the sole purpose of determining the number of persons regularly employed in the same business or establishment pursuant to G.S.

97-2(1).159-1(b)(5) reads as rewritten:

Other"(5) than"Publish," for"publication," theand limitedother purposeforms of determining the numberword of"publish" personsmean regularlyinsertion employedany inof the samefollowing: business or establishment, such volunteer nonprofit officers, directors, or committee members shall not be "employees" under the Act.

Nothinga. herein shall prohibit a nonprofit corporation as described herein from voluntarily electing to provide for workers' compensation benefits in the manner provided in G.S.

97-93Insertion forin volunteera officers,newspaper directors,qualified orunder committeeG.S. members excluded from the definition of "employee" by operation of this paragraph.

This1-597 paragraph shall not apply to anypublish volunteerlegal firefighter,advertisements. volunteer member of an organized rescue squad, an authorized pickup firefighter when that individual is engaged in emergency fire suppression activities for the North Carolina Forest Service, a duly appointed and sworn member of an auxiliary police department organized pursuant to G.S.

160A-282,b. or a senior member of the State Civil Air Patrol functioning under Subpart C of Part 5 of Article 13 of Chapter 143B of the General Statutes, even if such person is elected or appointed and empowered as an executive officer, director, or committee member under the charter, articles, or bylaws of a nonprofit corporation as described herein.

AnyElectronic solenotice, proprietor or partner of a business or any member of a limited liability company may elect to be included as anprovided employee under the workers' compensation coverage of such business if he is actively engaged in theG.S. operation of the business and if the insurer is notified of his election to be so included.

Any153A-52.2, suchif solean proprietorordinance orhas partnerbeen oradopted memberby ofthat agoverning limitedboard." liabilitySECTION company6. shall, upon such election, be entitled to employee benefits and be subject to employee responsibilities prescribed in this Article.

"Employee"G.S. shall include an authorized pickup firefighter of the North Carolina Forest Service of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services when that individual is engaged in emergency fire suppression activities for the North Carolina Forest Service.

As163-33(8) usedreads in this section, "authorized pickup firefighter" means an individual who has completed required fire suppression training as arewritten: wildland firefighter and who is available as needed by the North Carolina Forest Service for emergency fire suppression activities, including immediate dispatch to wildfires and standby for initial attack on fires during periods of high fire danger.

It"§ shall163-33. be a rebuttable presumption that the term "employee" shall not include any person performing services in the sale of newspapers or magazines to ultimate consumers under an arrangement whereby the Senate Bill 343*-Second Edition Page 7 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2017 newspapers or magazines are to be sold by that person at a fixed price and the person's compensation is based on the retention of the excess of the fixed price over the amount at which the newspapers or magazines are charged to the person." SECTION 3.(a) Pilot Program.

–Powers For the counties of Buncombe, Durham, Forsyth, and Guilford,duties the board of county commissionersboards may, in the discretion of theelections. board, adopt an ordinance establishing the county Website as a central location for publishing or advertising legal notices in accordance with this section, if the county complies with all of the following:

(1) The county maintainsboards itsof ownelections Websitewithin withtheir sufficientrespective staffjurisdictions shall exercise all powers granted to maintainsuch thatboards Website.in this Chapter, and they shall perform all the duties imposed upon them by law, which shall include the following:

(2)… The(8) countyTo hasprovide sufficientfor staffthe toissuance completeof affidavitsall asnotices, neededadvertisements, forand allpublications legalconcerning notices.elections required by law.

SECTIONIf 3.(b)the Publicationelection Viais County-maintainedon Website.a State bond issue, an amendment to the Constitution, or approval of an act submitted to the voters of the State, the State Board of Elections shall reimburse the county boards of elections for their reasonable additional costs in placing such notices, advertisements, and publications.

– In lieuaddition, ofthe publishingcounty inboard aof newspaperelections inshall accordancegive withnotice Articleat 50least of20 Chapterdays 1prior ofto the Generaldate Statutes,on publicationwhich ofthe anyregistration noticebooks permitted or requiredrecords byare lawclosed tothat bethere publishedwill inbe a newspaperprimary, maygeneral beor accomplishedspecial byelection, contractingthe withdate aon countywhich whoit haswill adoptedbe anheld, ordinanceand inthe accordancehours withthe thisvoting sectionplaces towill publishbe suchopen noticefor onvoting thein county-maintainedthat Website.election.

SECTIONThe 3.(c)notice Affidavitalso shall describe the nature and type of Publication.election, and the issues, if any, to be submitted to the voters at that election.

–Notice Whenevershall abe countygiven hasby publishedadvertisement aat noticeleast oronce anyweekly otherduring paper,the document,20-day orperiod legalin advertisementa withinnewspaper having general circulation in the meaningcounty and by posting a copy of G.S.the notice at the courthouse door.

1-597Notice andmay aadditionally countybe employeemade makeson a writtenradio statement under oath taken before any notary public or othertelevision officerstation or personboth, authorizedbut by law to administer oaths, stating that the county placed such notice,notice paper, document, or legal advertisement upon its Website, such sworn written statement shall be received in alladdition courtsto in this State as prima facie evidence that the countynewspaper placedand theother notice,required paper,notice. document, or legal advertisement upon its Website for the stated period of time.

WhenThis filedsubdivision inshall thenot officeapply ofin the clerkcase of thebond superiorelections courtcalled ofunder that county, any such sworn statement shall be deemed to be a record of the courtprovisions and such record or a copy thereof duly certified by the clerk shall be prima facie evidence that the county placed the notice, paper, document, or legal advertisement upon its Website for the stated period of time.Chapter 159.

SECTIONThe 3.(d)county Whenboard amay statuteadopt or written instrument stipulates that an advertisement of a salepolicy shall be made for any certain number of weeks, publication via the county Website in accordance with thisG.S. section for the number of weeks so indicated is a sufficient compliance with the requirement.

SECTION153A-52.2 3.(e)to Thisprovide sectionfor becomesnotices, effectiveadvertisements, Octoberand 1,publications 2017,to andbe expiresgiven Decemberelectronically." 31,SECTION 2019.7.

SECTIONArticle 4.23 of Chapter 153A of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:

Page 6 Senate Bill 343*-First Edition General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2017 "§ 153A-458.

County Web site as central location for legal notices.

The board of commissioners may adopt an ordinance establishing the county Web site as a central location for publishing or advertising legal notices in accordance with G.S.

1-602, if the county complies with all of the following:

(1) The county maintains its own Web site, with sufficient staff to maintain that Web site.

(2) The county has sufficient staff to complete affidavits as needed for all legal notices as stated in G.S.

1-602(d).

(3) The county collects and remits fees as provided in G.S.

1-602(b) and (c)." SECTION 8.

1-597 remains in effect and is not affected by any modifications of that statute enacted by Section 12 of this act.

SECTION 5.9.

ExceptThis asact otherwisebecomes provided,effective thisOctober act1, is2017, effectiveand whenapplies to notices that must be published on or after that date, except that it becomesdoes law.not apply to notices permitted to be published on a government Internet Web site in lieu of newspaper publication pursuant to an ordinance enacted before that date.

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