Bill
Bill > A5241
NJ A5241
NJ A5241Allows online news publication to use municipal, county, or State-wide circulation requirements to meet eligibility standards; extends grace period for qualifying newspapers.
summary
Introduced
06/08/2026
06/08/2026
In Committee
06/08/2026
06/08/2026
Crossed Over
Passed
Dead
Introduced Session
2026-2027 Regular Session
Bill Summary
Under current law, to qualify as an online news publication eligible to publish legal notices for municipal-wide circulation, the online news publication is required to receive 4,000 unique monthly visits on average as calculated annually, no less than 50 percent of which are to be from IP addresses within the applicable municipality or within a 10-mile radius of the municipality. This bill amends the law to:· also include the county in which the applicable municipality is located. Under the bill, if an online news publication meets the county-wide circulation requirements for the county in which the applicable municipality is located, or which meets the State-wide circulation requirements, is deemed to also meet the municipal-wide circulation requirements to qualify as an online news publication;· specify that an online news publication that meets the State-wide circulation requirements is deemed to also meet the county-wide circulation requirements to qualify as an online news publication; and· extend the grace period for which a newspaper utilized or permitted to be utilized by a person for the purpose of complying with any legal requirement from January 1, 2025 to December 31, 2026.
AI Summary
This bill modifies the requirements for online news publications to be eligible to publish legal notices, expanding their reach and extending a grace period for traditional newspapers. Specifically, it allows online news publications to meet municipal-wide circulation requirements by demonstrating sufficient readership within the entire county where the municipality is located, or by meeting statewide circulation requirements, in addition to the existing option of meeting a 10-mile radius around the municipality. Similarly, county-wide circulation eligibility can now be met by satisfying statewide circulation requirements. The bill also introduces a provision that deems a legal notice compliant if the publisher made a good-faith effort to use an eligible online news publication, and it extends the grace period for newspapers to be utilized for legal notice compliance from March 1, 2026, to December 31, 2026.
Committee Categories
Government Affairs
Sponsors (1)
Last Action
Introduced, Referred to Assembly State and Local Government Committee (on 06/08/2026)
Taxonomy
Government Operations
- ‐ General Government Operations
- ‐ Government Transparency and Open Records
Official Document
bill text
bill summary
Loading...
bill summary
Loading...
bill summary
| Document Type | Source Location | Created |
|---|---|---|
| State Bill Page | https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/bill-search/2026/A5241 | 06/04/2026 |
| BillText | https://pub.njleg.gov/Bills/2026/A5500/5241_I1.HTM | 06/09/2026 |
Loading...