PRINTER'S NO. 2048
No. 1609 Session of 2007
INTRODUCED BY CALTAGIRONE, BENNINGHOFF, CAPPELLI, COSTA,
CREIGHTON, DENLINGER, J. EVANS, GEIST, GIBBONS, GODSHALL,
GOODMAN, GRELL, HALUSKA, HARRIS, HENNESSEY, KIRKLAND, KORTZ,
KULA, LEACH, MENSCH, R. MILLER, MUNDY, PALLONE, READSHAW,
REICHLEY, ROSS, SANTONI, SCAVELLO, SOLOBAY, STURLA, THOMAS,
WALKO AND WANSACZ, JUNE 21, 2007
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY, JUNE 21, 2007
AN ACT
1 Amending Title 45 (Legal Notices) of the Pennsylvania
2 Consolidated Statutes, providing for electronic publication
3 of legal notices.
4 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
5 hereby enacts as follows:
6 Section 1. Title 45 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated
7 Statutes is amended by adding a chapter to read:
8 CHAPTER 4
9 ELECTRONIC LEGAL ADVERTISING
10 Sec.
11 401. Short title of chapter.
12 402. Definitions.
13 403. Electronic advertising.
14 404. Complaints and service accessibility failures.
15 405. Copies of legal notices.
16 406. Time for posting.
1 407. Responsible official.
2 408. Creation of proof of publication.
3 409. Proof of publication.
4 410. Other notice and advertising requirements.
5 § 401. Short title of chapter.
6 This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the
7 Electronic Legal Advertising Act.
8 § 402. Definitions.
9 The following words and phrases when used in this chapter
10 shall have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
11 context clearly indicates otherwise:
12 "Electronic publication" or "electronically publish." The
13 public advertisement of a legal notice in HyperText Markup
14 Language format (HTML) or an equivalent language format on an
15 official government Internet website.
16 "Notice website." An Internet website that is maintained by
17 a governmental unit, or by a third party under contract with the
18 unit, that contains links to the legal notices electronically
19 published by the governmental unit.
20 "Official Internet website" or "official website." The
21 Internet location designated by a governmental unit as its
22 primary source of information about the governmental unit on the
23 Internet.
24 § 403. Electronic advertising.
25 Whenever a governmental unit is required by law to publish a
26 legal notice in one or more newspapers of general circulation,
27 the governmental unit or its representative may publish the
28 notice on an official government notice website instead of in a
29 newspaper of general circulation, if all of the following
30 requirements are met:
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1 (1) The governmental unit, or the host of the notice
2 website, shall enter into a service-level agreement with an
3 Internet service provider that guarantees the site is
4 accessible to the public over the Internet at least 98% of
5 the time, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
6 (2) The governmental unit's official Internet website
7 containing the notice website shall be registered with the
8 Office of Information Technology of the Office of
9 Administration, for posting on a State Internet website that
10 lists Internet sites of governmental units.
11 (3) The governmental unit's official Internet website
12 shall prominently display a link to the notice webpage, which
13 shall be an index webpage, containing a list of all current
14 legal notices of the unit, with links to the full text of
15 those notices, not just to summaries of those notices. The
16 index webpage shall also contain a search function and other
17 features that improve public accessibility to legal notices.
18 (4) Each webpage on the official website with a link to
19 the notice webpage or index webpage, as well as the notice
20 website itself, shall contain an e-mail link to submit a
21 complaint to the governmental unit if access to any legal
22 notice fails.
23 § 404. Complaints and service accessibility failures.
24 A governmental unit shall review all complaints reported
25 under section 403(4) (relating to electronic advertising) or
26 otherwise to determine the cause of any service accessibility
27 failure and it shall document the findings and any action taken
28 to resolve the failure. The governmental unit shall keep and
29 make available for public inspection all records of complaints
30 and service accessibility failures.
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1 § 405. Copies of legal notices.
2 Whenever an individual is unable to access an electronic
3 publication of a legal notice, the issuing governmental unit
4 shall provide a copy of the notice to the individual free of
5 charge.
6 § 406. Time for posting.
7 Notices shall remain available on the notice website at least
8 until the last posting date required by law has expired or until
9 the event described in a notice has taken place, whichever is
10 later.
11 § 407. Responsible official.
12 A governmental unit shall designate an official to be
13 responsible for electronic publication and shall post the name
14 and contact information of the official on the notice website.
15 § 408. Creation of proof of publication.
16 The governmental unit shall create and keep, or have provided
17 by the notice website contractor, a proof of publication for
18 each legal notice. The proof of publication shall state that the
19 legal notice was posted from the initial date through either the
20 last posting date required by law or the date when the event
21 described in a notice takes place, whichever occurs later.
22 § 409. Proof of publication.
23 Proof of publication of an electronically published legal
24 notice for the purpose of complying with public notice
25 requirements shall be satisfied and deemed conclusive upon the
26 provision of a copy of the proof of publication, certified by
27 the official designated pursuant to section 407 (relating to
28 responsible official), stating that the notice was posted from
29 the initial date until the last posting date required by law.
30 § 410. Other notice and advertising requirements.
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1 Nothing in this chapter shall negate or effect any
2 requirement in law, regulation or rule requiring that a notice
3 or other advertisement be published in a periodical designated
4 by the rules of court of a county for the publication of legal
5 notices.
6 Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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