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Nj Public Notices No Longer Required In Newspapers Bergen Record

Leo Migdal
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nj public notices no longer required in newspapers bergen record

Gov. Phil Murphy signed into law a bill that will effectively end the use of media for public notices. These advertisements were legally required to be printed in newspapers to make the public aware of municipal and county meetings, planning board applications, sheriff's sales and many other official government actions. Under New Jersey law, they have appeared in print newspapers for decades. The reform was made necessary, its sponsors have said, by the end of daily print publication of The Star-Ledger, Jersey Journal, Times of Trenton and South Jersey Times, but short-term fixes that have been... Legislation that allowed for online publication, which first expired in February and was extended, expired at the end of June.

Now, through bipartisan legislation sponsored by state Senate President Nick Scutari and state Sen. Anthony Bucco, all governments and public entities will publish or advertise legal notices on their own official websites. Each government website will be required to display a clearly marked link to legal notices on its home page, and the listings would have to be available to the public for free. This will be mandatory beginning March 1, 2026, and optional until then. The state will also create a page under the secretary of state's portion of nj.gov with links to the legal notices page for each public entity. Public entities no longer are required to publish meeting notices in newspapers under a new law Gov.

Phil Murphy signed on June 30, 2025. (Photo by New Jersey Monitor) Legislation signed by Gov. Phil Murphy Monday evening ended the state’s decades-long practice of requiring publication of public notices in newspapers. The measure comes after the Star-Ledger, the state’s largest daily newspaper, announced it would cease printing in February, along with other smaller papers the company owns. That left several municipalities and counties without an official newspaper to publish notices of town meetings, planning board applications, foreclosures, and bid solicitations, as mandated under the state’s Open Public Meetings Act.

Now, under the new law, public entities will be required to publish or advertise legal notices on their official website beginning March 1, 2026, with digital publication of such notices optional until that date. The law requires that the websites be free and accessible, with a direct hyperlink to legal notices placed “conspicuously” on the homepage. The secretary of state also would help set up a website to include notices from public entities statewide. Public agencies will be required to display notices on the website for at least one week and store them in an online archive for at least one year afterward. Local governments will not be required to maintain an archive until July 1, 2026, according to the measure. Need to submit a legal notice?We're here to help

New Jersey’s long-standing requirement for government agencies to pay to publish public notices in newspapers is facing elimination under a new proposal from legislators in Trenton. A bill, S4654, sponsored by state Senate President Nick Scutari, D-Union, would allow the government to bypass news outlets and post all public notices on their websites by March. That state would also set up a central website with links to all the sites. Public notices, also called legal advertisements, have been a steady source of revenue for local newspapers for decades. The current law required local governments to purchase space in print publications for everything from meeting notices to planning board applications and other announcements. Over the last few months, public notices were also allowed to be published online in digital newspapers after the Star-Ledger, the state’s largest newspaper, ceased print operations in February.

The New Jersey Press Association, the nonprofit group that advocates for the state’s news organizations, said it supports the passage of an alternative bill, S4484, sponsored by state Sen. Andrew Zwicker, D-Middlesex. On June 30, 2025, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed Senate Bill No. 4654, which was introduced on June 16, 2025, into law, enacting significant reforms to the state’s requirements for the publication or advertisement of legal notices. Traditionally, legal notices are required to be published in printed newspapers to afford the public notice of municipal and county meetings. Since many print newspapers in New Jersey ended daily print publication, the new law revises the manner in which legal notices are to be communicated to the public.

Effective March 1, 2026, all governmental and public entities will be required to publish or advertise legal notices electronically on their own official website. Such websites will be required to clearly link to legal notices on its home page and be accessible and available to the public without charge. All governmental and public entities will be required to maintain public notices on the website for a minimum of a week, or the time required by law, before transferring the notice to archives and... A local government unit is not required to maintain an archive until July 1, 2026. The State is required to create a webpage under the Secretary of State’s website which links to the legal notice page for each public entity. Effective January 1, 2026, governmental entities may, in addition to the publication on its official Internet website, advertise a legal notice in an “eligible online news publication.”

Any corporation, individual, or other entity that is not a public entity and is required by law or a court order or court rule to publish or advertise a legal notice will be required... Corporations, individuals, or other entities shall select an “online news publication” based on the geographic target as established or implied under the law, court order or court rules requiring publication. Public entities no longer are required to publish meeting notices in newspapers under a new law Gov. Phil Murphy signed on June 30, 2025. (Photo by New Jersey Monitor) By SOPHIE NIETO-MUNOZRepublished with permission of N.J.

Monitor Legislation signed by Gov. Phil Murphy Monday evening ended the state’s decades-long practice of requiring publication of public notices in newspapers. The measure comes after the Star-Ledger, the state’s largest daily newspaper, announced it would cease printing in February, along with other smaller papers the company owns. That left several municipalities and counties without an official newspaper to publish notices of town meetings, planning board applications, foreclosures, and bid solicitations, as mandated under the state’s Open Public Meetings Act. Now, under the new law, public entities will be required to publish or advertise legal notices on their official website beginning March 1, 2026, with digital publication of such notices optional until that date.

The law requires that the websites be free and accessible, with a direct hyperlink to legal notices placed “conspicuously” on the homepage. The secretary of state also would help set up a website to include notices from public entities statewide. On June 30, 2025, Governor Murphy signed Senate Bill No. 4654 into law, marking a sweeping reform of the State’s legal notice laws, significantly changing how public notices are published and accessed. Effective March 1, 2026, New Jersey will require that most legal notices be posted online, which is a shift away from traditional print newspapers in favor of government websites and online news platforms. According to the new law, all public entities, including municipalities, counties, and state agencies, must publish legal notices on their official websites.

These websites must be accessible to the public free of charge, and a prominent hyperlink to the legal notices page must be placed on each website’s homepage. In addition, the Secretary of State is tasked with creating a centralized webpage that links to every public entity in the State’s legal notices to further ensure public access. Public entities must also maintain an online archive of their legal notices for at least one year. Importantly, private parties, such as developers, corporations, and other non-public entities, stand to benefit from new framework. Private parties have legal requirement to post public notices in most land use matters, and in legal proceedings when ordered by Courts or as required by statute. Under the new requirements, non-public entities may publish public notices on a qualifying online news publication .

Online publication will likely eliminate the long lead times for print publications that hindered developers and other private parties. The new law does not designate a specific list of qualified news publications, however, any online news publication must meet eligibility criteria, including audience size, geographic reach, free public access, searchable access, and archive... The legislation, however, does not eliminate the use of traditional media. Until March 1, 2026, legal notices may be published in eligible print newspapers or in accordance with the new online standards. Additionally, public entities must advertise at least twice monthly in an eligible online news publication to inform the public where full legal notices may be viewed online and to provide a link to the... This legislation represents a pivotal change for New Jersey’s notice regime, offering faster publication, greater flexibility, and modernized access for the digital age.

However, it also imposes new compliance responsibilities on government bodies and private parties. Public entities should begin reviewing their websites to ensure full compliance by the March 1, 2026, deadline. Likewise, developers and other businesses with legal notice obligations should ensure they identify and utilize online news publications that meet the statutory criteria.

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