HB 6556 — AN ACT CONCERNING THE ONLINE PUBLICATION OF LEGAL NOTICES BY MUNICIPALITIES.

House of Representatives General Assembly RaisedFile Bill No.

6556399 January Session, 2023 LCOSubstitute House Bill No.

6706556 ReferredHouse toof Representatives, April 4, 2023 The Committee on PLANNINGPlanning ANDand DEVELOPMENTDevelopment Introducedreported by:through REP.

(PD)KAVROS ANDEGRAW ACTof CONCERNINGthe THE17th ONLINEDist., PUBLICATIONChairperson OFof LEGALthe NOTICESCommittee BYon MUNICIPALITIES.the part of the House, that the substitute bill ought to pass.

AN ACT CONCERNING THE ONLINE PUBLICATION OF LEGAL NOTICES BY MUNICIPALITIES.

Each provision of the general statutes, the special acts or the charter of any town, city or borough which requires the insertion of an advertisement of a legal notice in a daily newspaper shall be construed to permit such advertisement to be inserted in a weekly newspaper or, if such provision applies to a town, city or borough, posted in a conspicuous place on the Internet web site of the town, city or borough;borough, provided that any such notice posted on an Internet web site shall include the date and time that such notice was posted;

Whenever notice of any action or other proceeding is required to be given by publication in a newspaper, either bysHB6556 statute/ orFile orderNo. of court, the newspaper selected for that purpose, unless otherwise expressly prescribed, shall be one having a substantial circulation in the town in which at least one of the parties, for whose benefit such notice is given, resides.

LCO399 1 sHB6556 File No.

670399 1by statute or order of 2court, Raisedthe Billnewspaper No.selected for that purpose, unless otherwise expressly prescribed, shall be one having a substantial circulation in the town in which at least one of the parties, for whose benefit such notice is given, resides.

6556 This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:

Section 1 October 1, 2023 Section 1 1-2 StatementPD ofJoint Purpose:Favorable Subst.

TosHB6556 permit/ theFile postingNo. of advertisements of legal notices on municipal Internet web sites.

[Proposed399 deletions2 aresHB6556 enclosedFile inNo. brackets.

Proposed399 additionsThe arefollowing indicatedFiscal byImpact underline,Statement exceptand underlined.]eBill entireAnalysis textare prepared for the benefit of athe billmembers orof resolutionthe orGeneral aAssembly, sectionsolely offor apurposes billof orinformation, resolutionsummarization isand new,explanation itand isdo not LCOrepresent No.the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose.

670In 2general, fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of 2informational sources, including the analyst’s professional knowledge.

Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.

OFA Fiscal Note State Impact:

None Municipal Impact:

Municipalities Effect FY 24 $ FY 25 $ All Municipalities Savings See Below See Below Explanation The bill results in a savings to municipalities beginning in FY 24 by allowing municipalities to advertise a legal notice on their website instead of in a newspaper.

Each legal notice advertised in a newspaper can result in a cost of several hundred dollars to the municipality.

The extent of the savings to a municipality is dependent on the number of legal notices and the per-notice cost.

The Out Years The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would continue into the future subject to inflation and the cost of publishing legal notices in the newspaper.

sHB6556 / File No.

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399 OLR Bill Analysis sHB 6556 AN ACT CONCERNING THE ONLINE PUBLICATION OF LEGAL NOTICES BY MUNICIPALITIES.

SUMMARY The bill allows towns, cities, and boroughs, whenever they are required by the law or a charter to advertise a legal notice in a newspaper, to instead post the notice conspicuously on their websites.

If posted online, the notice must indicate the date and time it was posted.

The bill does not change existing law’s requirements on the frequency or duration of notices.

EFFECTIVE DATE:

October 1, 2023 COMMITTEE ACTION Planning and Development Committee Joint Favorable Substitute Yea 14 Nay 7 (03/17/2023) sHB6556 / File No.

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