Trenton, New Jersey. Let’s face it: no one reads the local newspapers anymore, and state legislation is set to change the way people get their news and information.
The goal of a bipartisan bill pending in the New Jersey Legislature is to update the publication of legal notices by enabling public organizations to issue mandatory announcements directly on their official websites rather than exclusively through newspapers.
The measure would require all public institutions to post legal notices on their websites starting on March 1, 2026, while those who want to adopt it sooner might do so right now. Every entity’s website must be open to the public for free, and the homepage must prominently connect to its legal notices page.
The law gives a broad definition of a public entity, which includes authority, school districts, municipal and state governments, and other public bodies. The goal of the modification is to lower publishing expenses, improve accessibility, and expedite the legal notification procedure at all governmental levels.
A consolidated webpage with links to each public entity’s legal notifications sections would be created by the Secretary of State. Additionally, this statewide portal would have a prominently displayed homepage link and be freely available to the public.
The new architecture includes alternatives for online news and archiving.
The measure mandates that legal notices be posted on a public entity’s website for a minimum of one week, or longer if mandated by law. After then, they have to be transferred to an internet archive and kept there for a minimum of a year. However, until July 1, 2026, municipal administrations are exempt from the requirement to keep such an archive.
Notices on eligible online news publications may also be published by public institutions; the bill outlines particular eligibility requirements, including publication frequency and general audience accessibility. Corporations, individuals, and other non-governmental organizations that are mandated by law or court order to post legal notices are covered by these laws.
Public bodies are required to notify the public twice a month in qualified online news outlets about where to locate full legal notice texts online between January 1, 2026, and March 1, 2026. This provides the URL for the unified site of the Secretary of State.
The present lawful usage of newspapers to disseminate public notices is likewise covered by the bill. By amending the current law, it permits public entities to keep utilizing eligible print and electronic newspapers until March 1, 2026.
Public bodies have time to get ready for full implementation by the March 2026 deadline because the legislation goes into effect immediately.
By mandating that all notifications be posted online by 2026, New Jersey’s proposed public notice reform will bring legal openness into the digital age.
