Public Notice News

NJPUBLICNOTICES.COM offers access 24 hours a day, seven days a week to local, county, and statewide public notices placed by governments and ordered by courts all over N.J. These include public notices legally required to be published about foreclosures, hearings, procurement of bids, financial reports, ordinances and other government activities. This Web site is accessible to the public at no charge. Each public notice was originally published in one or more New Jersey newspapers, the trusted source for community information. For citizens and businesses wanting to routinely track specific types of notices, register for 'Smart Search' and let our system do the work for you. With a simple registration, your search criteria are conveniently saved for future visits.

You may also choose to receive automatic daily email notifications of your customized results. Manual search does not require registration. However, doing so does eliminate the need to re-enter your common keywords every visit. Click here for further information. To place a public notice, please contact the local newspaper in the city or county of publication where the legal notice is required to be published. Use of this site is governed by our Terms of Use agreement.

If you have any questions please send an email to NJPA@publicnoticehelp.com. 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. Learn how new legislation may modernize compliance NJ’s public notice rules set for major changes

Learn how new legislation may modernize compliance Public notice requirements in New Jersey are changing. And, if you are an applicant, developer or municipality – or work for or with any of them – it is important to be aware of where the rules stand today and what might... What led to the change? Although there have long been complaints about the somewhat archaic nature of newspaper publication requirements, print publication has always been how municipalities and members of the public appearing before public bodies were required to... Indeed, various New Jersey statutes, including the Open Public Meetings Act and the Municipal Land Use Law, have mandated that municipalities and applicants publish notices advising of public meetings, ordinance adoptions, zone changes and...

On June 30, 2025, Gov. Phil Murphy signed public notice reform legislation into law. The new law (S-4654/A-5878) requires – beginning March 1, 2026 – a public entity to publish or advertise legal notices on its official website. The new law also mandates that private entities required to publish legal notices do so on an online news publication. To avoid compliance missteps, we strongly encourage land use applicants and municipal officials to be proactive in familiarizing themselves with the new requirements. This new law will affect both private developers and land use applicants, as well as municipal clerk’s offices.

The modernization of New Jersey’s legal notice requirements respond to the fact that paper newspapers are quickly becoming scarce in the digital age and online publications are often subject to pay walls. The new law also aims to provide greater accessibility to the public and boost government efficiency. Below are several key provisions: Finally, S-4654/A-5878 extends the provisions of two prior laws that provided temporary relief from the requirement that all public notices be published in print newspapers. Applicants and public entities may continue to use print or electronic newspapers for legal notices. Land use applications and approvals often require notice publication pursuant to New Jersey’s Municipal Land Use Law (MLUL).

Specifically, the MLUL mandates that notice must be sent by certified mail to all property owners within 200 feet of the subject property. Additionally, notice must be published in an official newspaper of general circulation in the municipality at least 10 days prior to the scheduled public hearing. Protecting, Promoting and Enhancing Community Newspapers Since 1885 Public notices in newspapers are part of the three-legged stool of government accountability. Public notices help to inform the public on activities by the government and other public entities. ...

Learning from the master: How Jim Lockwood weaves award-winning journalism out of public notices Days after eight small Wyoming towns were rescued from the brink of losing their weekly newspapers, a reader contacted the new owners with a simple request. SIGNiX’s fast, secure and fully digital affidavit notarization will now be available in SCS’s Community Advertising System, making it easy for publishing teams to process legal notices without ... This time of year, legislative activity tends to be at a slower pace. PNRC anticipates the new year will bring increased activity as legislators aim to move bills before they enter the election cycle. Many of the state legislative bodies are not in session right now.

PNRC urges people to keep an eye on what local governments are doing as well as the state house. One example occurring right now: Across the country, massive new data center projects tied to expanding the artificial intelligence industry are being announced. These facilities take up huge swaths of land and require a lot of energy. It’s incumbent on local governments and state houses to provide complete transparency and notice of these facilities. Publication should be in print AND in digital format Print: Publication must have a fair price and a preexisting audience apart from public notice. Digital: There should be no cost to readers to access digital notices.

Public notices in print should be readable Readers should be able to find them. The best publishers provide enhanced services (e.g., email subscription) to specialized audiences at a reasonable price. Publishers should make reasonable effort to direct attention to notices Efficient indexing for ease of reader use, quick access to web links, and reporting on news embedded in important notices are among the tools... Print publication is self-authenticating Publishers should be prepared to provide an affidavit of publication. Digital authentication is evolving. Print authentication is particularly critical for real estate.

Public notices should be archived for proof of publication Archives should be open to public during reasonable office hours and copies should be available at publisher’s cost. Archives should be preserved for historians Care should be taken to retain archives when systems or owners change. The Public Notice Resource Center is here to support your effort to retain public and legal notices in newspapers. Your donation helps PNRC track legislation and be a resource for your legislative efforts. The PNRC Board is available to speak at your convention, reminding publishers about the best practices for public notices and staff an informational table. When a newspaper does not follow best practices, it can jeopardize notices for all.

PNRC is willing to discuss strategies for legislative efforts and help successfully identify legislative efforts in other states. PNRC is funded by donations from state press associations and members of American Courts and Commercial Newspapers. Without the continued support PNRC would not be the resource for keeping notices public. A decades-old law requiring towns and government agencies in New Jersey to publish meeting notices in newspapers was abolished last week, raising concerns that some local publications covering the state may be forced to... Print and online newspapers have long been paid by state and local governments to publish everything from town council meeting notices to planning board applications and other announcements. The fees were a steady source of revenue for newspapers, which provided a consistent site for meeting notices — also referred to as legal ads — for New Jerseyans who might struggle to find...

Gov. Phil Murphy signed a law last week that ended the public notice requirement after years of battles and negotiations in Trenton over the issue. The new law will allow the government to bypass news outlets and post all public notices on their websites by March. The state will also set up a central website with links to all the sites.

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