An Act relative to legal advertisements and public notices
Generates a plain-language summary of the bill text and history.
| Date | Branch | Action |
|---|---|---|
| 7/23/2025 | House | Read second and ordered to a third reading |
| 7/23/2025 | House | Rules suspended |
| 7/23/2025 | House | Committee reported that the matter be placed in the Orders of the Day for the next sitting |
| 7/10/2025 | House | Bill reported favorably by committee and referred to the committee on House Steering, Policy and Scheduling |
| 6/3/2025 | Joint | Hearing scheduled for 06/10/2025 from 01:00 PM-05:00 PM in B-1 |
| 2/27/2025 | Senate | Senate concurred |
| 2/27/2025 | House | Referred to the committee on Municipalities and Regional Government |
| Committee | Recommendation | Vote |
|---|---|---|
| J10 | Favorable | 1 entries |
| H52 | Place in OD | — |
Section 13 of Chapter 4 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out subsection (b) and inserting in place thereof the following subsection:- If a person, corporation, state agency, including its political subdivisions, a state authority, including its political subdivisions, municipality, including its political subdivisions, or other legal entity is required by a statute, ordinance, by-law or judicial order to publish a legal notice in a newspaper or newspaper of general circulation, the person, corporation, agency, authority, municipality or other legal entity may satisfy such requirement by one or more of the following means: A. a print newspaper of local or general circulation; B. a newspaper’s website, including on-line only newspaper publications; C. a statewide website that may be maintained as a repository for such notices; or D. a city or town-wide website that may be maintained as a repository for such notices;
Subsection (d) of said section 13 of said chapter 4, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following sentence:- An error in a legal notice published on a newspaper's website, statewide website, or city or town-wide website that is the result of (1) an error of the website operator; or (2) a temporary website outage or service interruption that prevents the publication or display of a legal notice on the website, shall not constitute a defect in publication of the legal notice; provided, however, that the legal notice appears correctly on either the newspaper's website, the statewide website, or city or town-wide website and satisfies all other legal notice requirements.
Section 11 of Chapter 40A of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting the following sentence at the end of the first paragraph:- A city or town may permit that all notices of public hearings be published: (i) in a local newspaper, either in electronic or paper format; or (ii) on the official city or town-wide website to satisfy this section.
SECTION 1. Section 13 of Chapter 4 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out subsection (b) and inserting in place thereof the following subsection:- If a person, corporation, state agency, including its political subdivisions, a state authority, including its political subdivisions, municipality, including its political subdivisions, or other legal entity is required by a statute, ordinance, by-law or judicial order to publish a legal notice in a newspaper or newspaper of general circulation, the person, corporation, agency, authority, municipality or other legal entity may satisfy such requirement by one or more of the following means: A. a print newspaper of local or general circulation; B. a newspaper’s website, including on-line only newspaper publications; C. a statewide website that may be maintained as a repository for such notices; or D. a city or town-wide website that may be maintained as a repository for such notices; SECTION 2. Subsection (d) of said section 13 of said chapter 4, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following sentence:- An error in a legal notice published on a newspaper's website, statewide website, or city or town-wide website that is the result of (1) an error of the website operator; or (2) a temporary website outage or service interruption that prevents the publication or display of a legal notice on the website, shall not constitute a defect in publication of the legal notice; provided, however, that the legal notice appears correctly on either the newspaper's website, the statewide website, or city or town-wide website and satisfies all other legal notice requirements. SECTION 3. Section 11 of Chapter 40A of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting the following sentence at the end of the first paragraph:- A city or town may permit that all notices of public hearings be published: (i) in a local newspaper, either in electronic or paper format; or (ii) on the official city or town-wide website to satisfy this section.