1Amending Title 45 (Legal Notices) of the Pennsylvania
2Consolidated Statutes, further providing for additional
3publication in legal journals; and providing for electronic
4publication of legal advertising.

5The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
6hereby enacts as follows:

7Section 1. Section 308(a) of Title 45 of the Pennsylvania
8Consolidated Statutes is amended to read:

9§ 308. Additional publication in legal journals.

10(a) General rule.--Except as otherwise provided by statute,
11every notice or advertisement required by law or rule of court
12to be published in one or more newspapers of general circulation
13or permitted by Chapter 4 (relating to electronic publication of 
14legal advertising) to be electronically published, unless
15dispensed with by special order of court, shall also be
16published in the legal newspaper, issued at least weekly, in the
17county, designated by rules of court for the publication of
18court or other legal notices, if such newspaper exists.
19Publication in such legal newspaper shall be made as often as

1required, or in the case of a notice electronically published, 
2as often as would otherwise have been required to be made in
3[such] newspapers [in] of general circulation, and shall be
4subject to the same stipulations and regulations as those
5imposed for the like services upon all newspapers.

6* * *

7Section 2. Title 45 is amended by adding a chapter to read:

8CHAPTER 4

9ELECTRONIC PUBLICATION OF LEGAL ADVERTISING

10Sec.

11401. Scope of chapter.

12402. Definitions.

13403. Authorization.

14404. Election to electronically publish legal notices.

15405. Administration.

16406. Department responsibilities.

17407. Reporting.

18408. Regulations.

19§ 401. Scope of chapter.

20This chapter relates to public notice modernization.

21§ 402. Definitions.

22The following words and phrases when used in this chapter
23shall have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
24context clearly indicates otherwise:

25"Center." The Governor's Center for Local Government 
26Services within the Department of Community and Economic 
27Development.

28"Department." The Department of Community and Economic 
29Development of the Commonwealth.

30"Electronic publication" or "electronically publish." The 

1public advertisement of a legal notice in hypertext markup 
2language (HTML) format, or an equivalent language format, on an 
3official Internet website in accordance with this chapter.

4"Government unit." Any municipality, school district, local 
5authority or council of government or similar intergovernmental 
6cooperative entity.

7"Legal notice" or "notice." A notice, advertisement, 
8publication, statement or report or an abstract of a notice, 
9advertisement, publication, statement or report required by law, 
10rule or regulation to be published in a newspaper relating to 
11any of the following:

12(1) A meeting of the governing body of the government
13unit or its committees.

14(2) An ordinance or resolution.

15(3) A budget, auditor's report or financial statement.

16(4) A contract, agreement, request for bids or proposals
17or other documentation related to the procurement of
18supplies, services or construction.

19(5) A sale of real or personal property, including
20property sold for municipal taxes or claims.

21(6) A proceeding requiring public notice in accordance 
22with the act of July 31, 1968 (P.L.805, No.247), known as the 
23Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code.

24(7) A proceeding requiring public notice in accordance
25with applicable laws governing zoning or subdivision and land
26development in municipalities not subject to the Pennsylvania
27Municipalities Planning Code.

28"Notice website." An official Internet website or other 
29Internet website that is maintained by a government unit or by a 
30third party under contract with the government unit that 

1contains links to the legal notices designated for electronic 
2publication by the government unit.

3"Official Internet website" or "official website." The 
4official Internet location designated by a government unit as 
5its primary source of information about the government unit.

6"Ordinance." A legislative enactment of a municipality.

7"Resolution." A legislative enactment of a government unit
8other than a municipality.

9§ 403. Authorization.

10(a) General rule.--In accordance with the provisions of this 
11chapter, a government unit which publishes notices and 
12advertisements consistent with section 308 (relating to 
13additional publication in legal journals) shall have the 
14authority to, in lieu of publication in newspapers of general 
15circulation, electronically publish legal notices in addition to 
16publication in legal journals.

17(b) Effect of electronic publication.--Electronic 
18publication in accordance with this chapter shall substitute for 
19and satisfy the requirements for publication of legal notice in 
20newspapers of general circulation by a government unit imposed 
21by any provision of law.

22§ 404. Election to electronically publish legal notices.

23(a) Ordinance or resolution.--A government unit may enact an 
24ordinance or adopt a resolution to elect to electronically 
25publish legal notices in accordance with this chapter. The 
26ordinance or resolution shall be adopted prior to electronic 
27publication.

28(b) Specification of notices.--The ordinance or resolution
29adopted under subsection (a) shall specify which type of legal
30notices will be subject to electronic publication under this

1chapter.

2(c) Center.--Within 90 days of the enactment of an ordinance
3or resolution under subsection (a), the government unit shall
4furnish the center a copy of the ordinance or resolution and all
5official Internet website addresses applicable to the electronic
6publication of legal notices. Notice to the center shall include
7a one-time $100 fee to assist the center to create the list
8under section 406(a) (relating to department responsibilities).

9(d) Newspaper publication.--

10(1) Following adoption of an ordinance or resolution
11under subsection (a), and prior to electronically publishing
12any legal notices, the government unit shall publish a legal
13advertisement once a week for four successive weeks in one or
14more newspapers of general circulation within the
15jurisdiction of the government unit, announcing that certain
16legal notices will in the future be posted on the government
17unit's notice website in the following form:

18Internet Posting of Public Notices: (name of government
19unit).

20The (name of government unit) announces that legal
21notices on the following matters, effective (insert
22date), shall no longer be advertised by general
23circulation newspaper publication but shall be posted on
24(Internet address for the notice website or the notice
25website of the county in which the government unit is
26located, if necessary). The following types of notices
27shall be subject to electronic publication: (the
28advertisement shall then list the legal notices that the
29government unit's governing body has elected to publish
30electronically).

1Free public access to the Internet is available at
2(list locations within, adjacent to or accessible to the
3government unit).

4If someone is unable to access the Internet,
5individual copies of notices can be obtained at the (name
6of government unit) at (address) or by calling (insert
7appropriate government unit phone number).

8(2) If, after a good faith attempt to comply with the
9newspaper publication requirement of paragraph (1), the
10government unit fails to obtain publication of the notice
11required by this subsection in any newspaper of general
12circulation within the jurisdiction of the government unit,
13the government unit may publish the required notice at least
14once in the legal journal of a county within which the
15government unit is located and shall post the required notice
16on its official Internet website or notice website and at the
17principal office of the government unit.

18(e) Additional advertisement.--In addition to the newspaper
19publication required by subsection (d), a government unit may,
20from time to time, advertise by newspaper or other means the
21fact that it is electronically publishing specific legal notices
22as identified in the advertisement.

23§ 405. Administration.

24A government unit which has elected to provide electronic
25publication of legal notices shall comply with all of the
26following requirements:

27(1) Prior to electronically publishing notices, a
28government unit or a contractor providing the notice website
29shall enter into a service agreement with an Internet service
30provider that guarantees the website is accessible to the

1public over the Internet at least 98% of the time, 24 hours a
2day, 365 days a year.

3(2) All notices electronically published shall be 
4available for review in printed form in the appropriate 
5office of the government unit. The government unit shall 
6provide a copy of the notice to any individual upon written 
7or oral request. The notice shall be provided at a cost not 
8to exceed the cost established under section 1307(b) of the 
9act of February 14, 2008 (P.L.6, No.3), known as the Right-
10to-Know Law.

11(3) A government unit's official Internet website shall
12prominently display the link to any other notice website. The
13notice website shall include an indexed web page containing a
14list of all current electronically published notices of the
15government unit, with links to the full text of those
16notices. The index web page shall also contain a search
17function and may contain other features that improve public
18accessibility to electronically published notices. If a
19government unit does not have an official Internet website,
20the county in which the government unit is located may agree,
21under terms and conditions as the county may require, to
22provide space on the Internet website of the county necessary
23to serve as the government unit's notice website for purposes
24of this chapter. If the county provides space on its Internet
25website, the publication required by section 404 (relating to
26election to electronically publish legal notices) shall
27include the county's official Internet website address.

28(4) (i) An e-mail address of the government unit shall
29be displayed on any website on which its legal notices
30are provided and on each page of any official Internet

1website that contains a link to each notice website or
2index page of any notice website.

3(ii) The government unit shall review all complaints 
4reported under paragraph (1) to determine the cause of 
5any access problem and shall document the findings and 
6any action taken to resolve it.

7(iii) The government unit shall keep and make 
8available for public inspection all records of complaints 
9and service accessibility failures reported under 
10paragraph (1). The records shall also be filed with the 
11center.

12(iv) The government unit shall ensure that all
13website and e-mail addresses required by this chapter are
14updated when a change occurs.

15(5) (i) Electronic publication shall first be made on
16any date permitted by law for the initial printed
17publication of the legal notice and shall remain
18electronically published at least until the last date
19that printed publication could be made in accordance with
20law.

21(ii) Electronic publication for the period specified
22under subparagraph (i) shall be sufficient for purposes
23of certification of publication under paragraph (8).

24(iii) A government unit that electronically
25publishes a notice for the period under subparagraph (i)
26may do any of the following:

27(A) Continue to electronically publish the
28notice for up to 180 days after the last date for
29publication under subparagraph (i).

30(B) Provide for the printed publication of the

1notice in a newspaper of general circulation.

2(6) All legal notices electronically published by a
3government unit under this chapter shall be mailed by first
4class mail, or facsimile, to one or more newspapers of
5general circulation no later than the date the notice is
6posted on the notice website. The newspaper may use the
7notice for research, for monitoring or to print as a public
8service at no charge to the government unit.

9(7) A government unit that elects to provide electronic
10publication of legal notices shall establish a system to
11provide e-mail notification to individuals who register with
12the government unit to receive e-mail notification.

13(8) The government unit shall provide written 
14certification that the legal notice was electronically 
15published for the period required under paragraph (5)(i) and 
16the time, place, character of notice and beginning and ending 
17dates of the continuous electronic publication of the legal 
18notice. The certification shall be a printed or written 
19statement, identifying the Internet website on which the 
20legal notice was posted. A copy of the legal notice, exactly 
21as electronically published, and copies of notifications 
22under paragraph (7) shall be attached to the certification. 
23The certification shall also state that the time, place, 
24character of notice and dates are true. The certification 
25shall be signed by an official or employee of the government 
26unit responsible for electronically published legal notices 
27and an agent of the notice website contractor, if applicable. 
28The certification shall constitute a public record as defined 
29in the Right-to-Know Law. The completed certification shall 
30constitute proof of publication for compliance with legal 

1notice requirements in a newspaper of general circulation by 
2a government unit in accordance with this chapter or any 
3other provision of law. Proof of publication for any other 
4legal notice other than those authorized by this chapter 
5shall be acquired and retained in accordance with existing 
6law. Proof of publication as provided in this paragraph may 
7be rebutted by clear and convincing evidence establishing 
8that the legal notice was not electronically published as set 
9forth in the certification.

10(9) The government unit shall maintain a copy of each 
11legal notice, certifications of legal notices, electronic 
12transmissions required by paragraph (7) and facsimile 
13transmission reports in accordance with standards relating to 
14records retention established pursuant to law, regulation, 
15policy or other directive.

16§ 406. Department responsibilities.

17(a) List of government units.--Within six months of the
18effective date of this section, the center shall create and
19maintain a list of the names and Internet websites of all
20government units for which it has received a copy of an
21ordinance or resolution to permit electronic publication of
22legal notices under this chapter in accordance with section 404
23(relating to election to electronically publish legal notices).
24The list shall be accessible through the department's Internet
25website and may be organized to correspond with any existing
26database the center may maintain. The list shall contain links
27to the government units' official Internet websites.

28(b) Failure to comply.--Notwithstanding any other provision
29of law, the failure of a government unit to provide notice to
30the center under subsection (a) shall not invalidate any action

1for which electronic publication has been made.

2§ 407. Reporting.

3The department shall prepare a report on the use of this 
4chapter 12 months after the effective date of this chapter, and 
5biannually thereafter. The report shall be posted on the 
6department's Internet website. Notification of the report's 
7publication shall be provided to the President pro tempore of 
8the Senate, the Majority Leader of the Senate, the Minority 
9Leader of the Senate, the chairman and minority chairman of the 
10Local Government Committee of the Senate, the Speaker of the 
11House of Representatives, the Majority Leader of the House of 
12Representatives, the Minority Leader of the House of 
13Representatives and the chairman and the minority chairman of 
14the Local Government Committee of the House of Representatives.

15§ 408. Regulations.

16The department shall adopt procedures to verify the
17publication of legal notices in compliance with this chapter.

18Section 3. This act shall take effect in 60 days.