An Act To Provide More Efficient Notice of Public Activities

Sec. 1. 1 MRSA §603  is enacted to read:

§ 603.  Electronic publication of legal notices

Notwithstanding any other section of law, beginning July 1, 2013, a state agency may not publish in a newspaper any legal notice, legal advertising or any other matter required by law to be published in a newspaper but instead must post the notice on a publicly accessible website maintained by the State. Notices must continue to be posted according to the time frames that exist in law for newspaper publication. For the purposes of this section, “state agency” means any unit of State Government including any state board or commission but not including the Legislature, the Judicial Department, the University of Maine System, the Maine Community College System and the Maine Maritime Academy.

Sec. 2. Report to recommend exemptions. The Secretary of State and the Commissioner of Administrative and Financial Services shall jointly examine current requirements for publication of legal notices in a newspaper and report to the Joint Standing Committee on State and Local Government. The Secretary of State and the Commissioner of Administrative and Financial Services shall contact all state agencies, including all boards and commissions but not including the Legislature, the Judicial Department, the University of Maine System, the Maine Community College System and the Maine Maritime Academy, to determine all instances of legal notice publication requirements existing in the Maine Revised Statutes and request recommendations from those agencies regarding which notices should continue to be published in a newspaper after July 1, 2013. The Secretary of State and the Commissioner of Administrative and Financial Services shall jointly submit a report based on the recommendations from the state agencies, along with any necessary implementing legislation to the Joint Standing Committee on State and Local Government by December 15, 2012, and the committee is authorized to report out legislation to enact those recommendations.

summary

This bill changes the requirement for public notices to be published in a newspaper. Beginning July 1, 2013, a state agency may no longer publish a legal notice, legal advertising or other matter required by law to be published in a newspaper but must instead post such notices on a publicly accessible website maintained by the State. “State agency” is defined as any unit of State Government, including any state board or commission but not including the Legislature, the Judicial Department, the University of Maine System, the Maine Community College System and the Maine Maritime Academy. The Secretary of State and the Commissioner of Administrative and Financial Services shall contact all state agencies to determine all instances of legal notice publication requirements existing in the Maine Revised Statutes and request recommendations from those agencies regarding which notices should continue to be published in a newspaper after July 1, 2013. The Secretary of State and the Commissioner of Administrative and Financial Services shall jointly submit a report based on the recommendations from the state agencies, along with any necessary implementing legislation to the Joint Standing Committee of State and Local Government by December 15, 2012, and the committee is authorized to report out legislation to enact those recommendations.