Gov. Tony Evers has signed into law Wisconsin Act 32, which further ensures the industry’s role in the continued publication of public notices.
Each amendment aims to cement the role of community newspapers as newspapers of record, while also promoting ease of access and increased readership of legal notices. The legislation does not change the eligibility status of newspapers currently certified to publish legal notices.
The act makes the following changes to the state’s public notice law:
- Requires all newspapers publishing notices to have a website and to include a prominent link to all notices published by the newspaper on its home page**
- Requires all newspapers publishing notices to include a prominent link to the statewide public notice website maintained by the Wisconsin newspaper industry**
- Expands the definition of a newspaper’s circulation to include electronic and digital subscribers
- Removes the requirement that 50% of a newspaper’s circulation must be paid in order to qualify to publish legal notices
- Amends the frequency and length of time a newspaper must be in publication before it is eligible to publish legal notices
- Allows for electronic tear-sheeting for multiple insertion proof of publication
**(Both of these items can be achieved by linking directly to your community’s notices on WisconsinPublicNotices.org. Find your newspapers direct link here.)
The bill’s lead sponsors include Rep. Joel Kitchens (R – Sturgeon Bay) and Sen. Robert Cowles (R – Green Bay).
“The WNA applauds Rep. Kitchens and Sen. Cowles for their leadership and support of the evolution of the laws that govern the publication of public notices in Wisconsin newspapers,” said WNA Executive Director Beth Bennett.
Bennett added that the WNA also extends its gratitude to the bills co-sponsors — Sens. Janet Bewley (D – Mason), Brad Pfaff (D – Onalaska) and Patrick Testin (R – Stevens Point) and Reps. David Armstrong (R – Rice Lake), Jill Billings (D – LaCrosse), Steven Doyle (D – Onalaska), Cindi Duchow (R – Town of Delafield), Jesse James (R – Altoona), Daniel Knodl (R – Germantown), Amy Loudenbeck (R – Clinton), Nick Milroy (D – South Range), Clint Moses (R – Menomonie), Jeffrey Mursau (R – Crivitz), Todd Novak (R – Dodgeville), Donna Rozar (R – Marshfield), Ken Skowronski (R – Franklin), David Steffen (R – Green Bay), Lisa Subeck (D – Madison) and Don Vruwink (D – Milton).
The legislature passed the final legislation without opposition.
Linking to your public notices
What do I need to link to?
From the home page of your website, readers should be able to click through to a page that includes public notices that appeared that day or week in your newspaper. If you already publish public notices on your website, you may link to that page. But the notices must not be behind a paywall.
Preferably, the link will be included in your main navigation menu.
The best option may be to link directly to your community’s notices on WisconsinPublicNotices.org. Find your newspapers direct link here. By using this link, your newspaper will meet the requirement to both provide a link to your local notices and provide a link to the state public notice website, which can be accessed from the former.
What if my newspaper doesn’t have a website?
The legislation requires all newspapers publishing public notices to have a website. However, this can be a single landing page site and is not required to include news content.
There are several free and affordable options available to meet this requirement. Here are a few free options that are user friendly. Standard options typically include domain address that is branded to the platform, like sites.google.com/view/yournewspapername, but custom domain names can be purchased for as little as $6/year.
A Facebook page does not qualify as a website.
If you have any questions regarding the language contained in Wisconsin Act 32, contact WNA Executive Director Beth Bennett at beth.bennett@wnanews.com or 608-283-7621.
