SB 147 — Relating to: eligibility of Washington Island Observer newspaper to receive compensation for publication of legal notices and the content of affidavits of printing filed as evidence of publication.

- 2020 LEGISLATURE LRBa0200/1LRB-1096/1 SWB:cjs SENATE AMENDMENT 1, TO SENATE BILL 147 MayApril 7,4, 2019 - OfferedIntroduced by SenatorSenators ACQUE.J ACQUE , COWLES , OLSEN and N ASS, cosponsored by Representatives K ITCHENS, DUCHOW , KULP, LOUDENBECK , M URPHY, M URSAU , NOVAK, R OHRKASTE, SKOWRONSKI , SPREITZER, STEFFEN , SUBECK and T USLER.

AtReferred theto locationsCommittee indicated,on amendGovernment theOperations, billTechnology asand follows:Consumer Protection.

1.A N A CT to amend 985.01 (3r) and 985.12 (1) of the statutes;

Pagerelating 2,to: line 1:

beforeeligibility thatof lineWashington insert:Island Observer newspaper to receive compensation for publication of legal notices and the content of affidavits of printing filed as evidence of publication.

“SAnalysis ECTIONby 1m.the Legislative Reference Bureau This bill incorporates the Washington Island Observer newspaper into the definition of newspaper for purposes of eligibility to receive compensation for publishing legal notices.

985.01Under (1m)current oflaw, thea statutesnewspaper is renumbereddefined, 985.01with (1m)certain (a)exceptions, as a publication that is published at regular intervals and amendedat least once a week, containing, on average, 25 percent news content per issue, including reports of happenings of recent occurrence of a varied character, such as political, social, moral and religious subjects, designed to read:inform the general reader.

985.01In (1m)addition (a)to “Insertion,"xceptmeeting other criteria, a publication must be a newspaper as provideddefined in par.the statutes in order to qualify to receive compensation for publication of legal notices.

(b),This “insertion,”bill whenincorporates used to indicate the publicationWashington ofIsland aObserver, legalpublished noticeat moreleast thantwo onetimes time,a meansmonth, onceinto each week for consecutive weeks, the lastdefinition of whichnewspaper. shall be at least one week before the act or event, unless otherwise specified by law.

SAlso, ECTIONcurrent 1n.law provides that in order for an affidavit of printing to be received as presumptive evidence of publication of a legal notice and of the facts stated in the affidavit, the affidavit must include a copy of the legal notice clipped from the newspaper and must specify the date of each insertion and the paper in which it was published.

985.01This (1m)bill (b)specifies that the copy of the statutesnotice isincluded createdwith tothe read:affidavit - 2020 Legislature - 2 - LRB-1096/1 SWB:cjs SENATE BILL 147 of printing may be clipped from the newspaper in either hard copy or electronic format.

985.01The (1m)people (b) With respect to a newspaper published in the town of Washington, Door County, at least 2 times a month, “insertion,” when used to indicate the publicationstate of aWisconsin, legalrepresented notice more than one time, means once in eachsenate issueand ofassembly, consecutivedo issuesenact publishedas atfollows: intervals of at least one week, the last issue LRBa0200/1 - 2020 Legislature - 2 - SWB:cjs of which shall be published at least one week before the act or event, unless otherwise specified by law.”.

S ECTION 1.

985.01 (3r) of the statutes is amended to read:

985.01 (3r) “Newspaper” means a publication that is published at regular intervals and, except as otherwise provided in this subsection,least once a week, containing, on average, 25 percent news content per issue, including reports of happenings of recent occurrence of a varied character, such as political, social, moral and religious subjects, designed to inform the general reader.

“Newspaper” includes a daily newspaper published in a county having a population of 750,000 or more, devoted principally to business news and publishing of records, which has been designated by the courts of record of the county for publication of legal notices for a period of 6 months or more.

“Newspaper” also includes a newspaper published in the town of Washington, Door County, at least 2 times a month.

S ECTION 2.

985.12 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:

985.12 (1) AFFIDAVIT OF PRINTING.The affidavit of the editor, publisher, printer or proprietor of any newspaper, or of his or her foreman or principal clerk, of the publication of any legal notice, annexed to a copy of the notice clipped from the newspaper in either hard copy or electronic format and specifying the date of each insertion, and the paper in which it was published, shall be received in all cases as presumptive evidence of the publication and of the facts stated therein.