A5227

An Act requiring the Department of Community Affairs to establish certain Internet websites for local government unit legal notices, supplementing chapter 27D of Title 52 of the Revised Statutes, and making an appropriation.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. As used in P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill):

"Electronic publication" or "electronically publish" means the public advertisement of a legal notice in hypertext markup language format (html), portable document format (PDF), or an equivalent or successor language format or image format, on an official Internet website in accordance with P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).

"Legal notice" means a notice that a local government unit is required to officially advertise in a newspaper in accordance with law, rule, regulation, or court rule.

"Local government unit" means a municipality, county, or other political subdivision of the State, or any agency, board, commission, utilities authority or other authority, or other entity thereof.

2. a. The Department of Community Affairs shall establish and maintain an Internet website for each county in this State. The purpose of each county Internet website shall be to provide a portal to allow each local government unit within each county to electronically publish local government unit legal notices that are required to be officially advertised in a newspaper.

b. The department shall enable a local government unit to, without charge or fee, submit a required legal notice to the appropriate county Internet website, in a form and manner determined by the department, and shall prominently post a link to each county Internet website on the department’s Internet website.

c. Following its entry of a legal notice onto the appropriate county Internet website, the department shall provide the local government unit that submitted the notice with a link to the electronically published notice.

3. Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law to the contrary, whenever a local government unit, or a person who is a local government unit officer or employee, is required by law to publish a legal notice in one or more newspapers, the local government unit, or officer or employee, may satisfy that requirement by delivering the legal notice, a copy thereof, or a link thereto, to the Department of Community Affairs for electronic publication, without charge or fee, on the appropriate county’s Internet website established and maintained by the department pursuant to section 2 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).

4. There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Community Affairs the amount of $100,000 to develop and maintain the county Internet websites required pursuant to section 2 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).

5. This act shall take effect on the first day of the third month after the date of enactment, except that the Commissioner of Community Affairs may take any anticipatory administrative action in advance as shall be necessary for the implementation of this act.

STATEMENT

This bill requires the Department of Community Affairs (DCA) to establish and maintain an Internet website for each county in this State. The purpose of each county Internet website is to provide a portal to allow each local government unit within each county to post local government unit legal notices that are required to be officially advertised in a newspaper.

The bill provides that the DCA is to enable a local government unit to, without charge or fee, submit a required legal notice to the appropriate county Internet website, in a form and manner determined by the DCA, and is to prominently post a link to each county Internet website on the department’s Internet website. Following its entry of a legal notice onto the appropriate county Internet website, the DCA is to provide the local government unit that submitted the notice with a link to the electronically published notice.

The bill provides that whenever a local government unit, or a person who is a local government unit officer or employee, is required by law to publish a legal notice in one or more newspapers, the local government unit, or officer or employee, may satisfy that requirement by delivering the legal notice, a copy thereof, or a link thereto, to the DCA for electronic publication, without charge or fee, on the appropriate county’s Internet website established and maintained by the DCA pursuant to the bill.

This bill appropriates $100,000 from the General Fund to the DCA to develop and maintain the county Internet websites required by the bill.