Legal notices in newspapers could be nearing an end

Connecticut towns have been required for decades to publish legal notices in newspapers, but a bill before the General Assembly — along with a recent Appellate Court decision — could clear the way for legal publication on town websites instead.

State law requires that government agencies publish notifications of certain policy changes and meetings in a local newspaper with “substantial” circulation in the town. Fenwick, a small borough of Old Saybrook with about 50 residents, has historically sent these notices to the Middletown Press.

But when the borough’s zoning board passed a policy banning certain short-term rentals, residents sued, saying the town hadn’t provided sufficient notification.

Last week, the Connecticut appeals court upheld the lower court’s decision and ruled that publishing in the Middletown Press wasn’t enough, because the Press has no subscribers in Fenwick. The Hartford Courant has fewer than five subscribers who get the printed paper, officials said.

“We recognize that the newspaper industry has undergone significant changes since the legislature first imposed the obligation on municipalities to publish notice in a newspaper with ‘substantial circulation,’ in that municipality,” the court’s opinion says. “We also are mindful, of course, that the widespread availability of access to the Internet may justify, from a public policy perspective, permitting a municipality to publish legal notices on its website.”

But, the decision says, it’s the job of the legislature to make that call.

“We’re in a spot where we don’t quite know what to do,” said Chuck Chadwick, Fenwick’s Planning and Zoning Commission chair. “We’re on tiptoes.”

Newspaper industry opposes bill

Last week, the Planning and Development Committee heard public comment on House Bill 6556, which would allow towns to publish legal notices on town websites.

The bill drew opposition from several in the newspaper industry who raised concerns about transparency and public access to information.

“Requiring public notices to be posted in newspapers helps ensure that the public has access to important information about government activities and decisions, and that government agencies are transparent and accountable,” wrote Mike DeLuca, publisher of Hearst Connecticut Media Group and president of the Connecticut Daily Newspapers Association, in public comment. “It is imperative these notices are published by a credible and independent body.”

The issue has come up in past legislative sessions and garnered support from town leaders across the state who argue that more people get the information from town websites and that allowing notices to be published online will bring public policy in line with new technology.

Nationwide, many small towns have faced a decline in local news coverage.