No. CS/CS/HB 1009
Filed under Legal.
Governmental Agency Publication of Advertisements and Public Notices; Expands definition of term "governmental agency"; revises definition of term "publicly accessible website"; requires that certain legal notices be continuously published for specified timeframe when notices are for specified purpose & provided under certain circumstance; authorizes certain counties or specified municipalities, school boards, clerks of circuit court, & tax collectors to use publicly accessible website to publish certain advertisements & legal notices under specified conditions; revises definition of term "special district"; requires that certain public bid advertisements on publicly accessible website be provided & accessible to general public without charge.
Plain English Summary
AI-GENERATEDClerks of the circuit court, tax collectors, and water management districts now count as governmental agencies under this law, letting each use its own official website, instead of only the county's, to publish required legal notices and advertisements.
A notice published online must now stay up continuously for at least two weeks, or through the date of the event it announces, whichever fits its purpose. Previously the law set no minimum posting duration for web notices.
Counties under 160,000 people, and municipalities, school boards, clerks, or tax collectors mostly or entirely inside one, may switch to web notices only after a public hearing confirms local internet access won't leave residents cut off.
Public bid advertisements a governmental agency posts online must now be accessible to the general public at no charge, a new requirement the law did not previously impose.
AIThe definition of 'governmental agency' for this notice-publication chapter now explicitly includes clerks of the circuit court, tax collectors, and water management districts, alongside counties, municipalities, and school boards. That brings their required legal notices and advertisements under this chapter's website-publication rules for the first time.
AIA municipality, clerk, tax collector, water management district, or other local government unit may now satisfy notice requirements using its own official website or one it designates, rather than being limited to the host county's website as before.
AIA notice published on a government website must run continuously for at least two weeks when it reports the status of an activity, or continuously until the date of the event itself when it announces one. No such minimum existed before.
AICounties under 160,000 people, plus municipalities, school boards, clerks, and tax collectors located within one, must hold a public hearing finding that broadband access is adequate before switching legal notices to a website. The old rule reached only entities with three-quarters of their population inside such a county.
AIA public bid advertisement a governmental agency or special governmental agency posts on its website must be free and open to the general public, a requirement not previously stated in this chapter.
AIA special district spanning several counties must otherwise publish its notices on every county's website it spans. This carve-out removes water management districts from that 'special district' definition for this rule, so they are not bound by the every-county posting requirement.