1/29/2009 5:03:00 AM Bill would put legal notices on Internet
By STEVEN G. WATSON Associate Editor
A 700-page bill introduced by two Madison County lawmakers that could take legal notices out of newspapers and place them online faces some hurdles in the Legislature.
Newspaper executives argue the bill would make government less accountable and deny access to many rural residents.
Rep. Rita Martinson, R-Madison, and Sen. Walter Michel, R-Jackson, introduced versions of the bill they say would make government more efficient and could save money.
Ridgeland businessman Denton Gibbes, president of the advertising firm The Gibbes Company, is behind the legislation and said moving legals online is not only more efficient but something that will happen sooner or later.
"I know what it means to newspapers, but I also know it's a changing world," Gibbes said. "This is going to happen at some point."
Meanwhile, some state lawmakers and top government officials say the bill is not well thought out and worry as well that it could hinder access.
Mississippi Press Association (MPA) Executive Director Layne Bruce of Madison said public notices should be assessable online, but fears many rural Mississippians will be cut off.
He pointed out that more than half of Mississippi's newspapers already participate in a statewide searchable site for legal notices.
"We feel it's unwise to move public notices wholesale from print to the web," Bruce said. "Also, this particular bill is unwieldy and we believe would decrease accountability in government."
James E. Prince III, president of Prince Newspapers and publisher of the Madison County Journal, chairs the MPA's Governmental Affairs Committee that is leading the opposition.
"While we support a requirement to post legal notices on the Internet in addition to print the print requirement, this legislation would only lead to more secrecy in government and deny many Mississippians access," Prince said. "Not everyone has an iPhone or broadband access."
Gibbes said posting online would be cheaper for counties and municipalities. The Internet would also allow residents the ability to perform key-word searches and even receive email alerts as the legals are posted, he said.
"I'm not saying let's take all the legal notices out of newspapers, but I'm saying let the free market decide," Gibbes said. "I had approached a couple of legislators and proposed this concept to them. Obviously they believed enough in the idea to sponsor the bills."
Sen. Terry Brown, R-Columbus, said who chairs the Fees, Salaries and Administration Committee that is dealing with the Senate bill, said he doubts the measure will make it to the floor for a vote.
Brown says there are far too many questions, including the cost of such a program, and recommended that a subcommittee look into the issue further by gathering input from various agencies including the MPA.
"If we run it out there we're going to know what it's going to cost, know how to pay for it and know how it's going to work," Brown said.
The Madison County Journal is among those newspapers participating in the statewide site.
Bruce predicts that as issues like this crop up, more and more newspapers will participate creating something similar to what is proposed in the bill at no cost to the state.
The MPA's web site can be found at: www.publicnoticeads.com/ms/
