To See or Not to See: Public Notice of Legal Ads JEAN KADOOKA MARDFIN Researcher Report No.6, 1995 Legislative Reference Bureau State Capitol Honolulu, Hawaii FOREWORD This report is prepared in response to Senate Resolution NO.3 (1995) requesting a study to evaluate the efficiency of using newspapers of general circulation as the sole means of publishing public notices required by law. The Bureau thanks the Hawaii Newspaper Agency, including specifically Howard Griffin, Senior Vice President for Marketing, Margie Memminger, Sales Representative in Legal Advertising, and Dale Morikawa, Sales Representative in Retail Advertising for their patient explanation of advertising methods, pricing, and newspaper terminology. The Bureau also thanks Cathleen Chang, summer student intern who summarized each entry in the Hawaii Revised Statutes that provided for publication of public notices in newspapers which is reported as chapter 2. In addition, survey pretest volunteers: Les Tanaka, Warren Iwasa, and Wendale Imamura provided invaluable advice by critically reviewing the questions in the survey form before the forms were mailed to the public agency respondents. Finally, we express our sincere appreciation to all state and county agency employees who took the time to respond to the Bureau's survey. Wendell K. Kimura Acting Director December 1995 ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page FOREWORD.................................................................................................. ii 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................ : .......... 1 What are Public Notices and Why are They Necessary?.......................... 1 Newspapers and the Concept of Legal Notice.......................................... 2 Organization of this Report ..................................................................... 2 2. HAWAII'S STATUTORY PROViSiONS ............................................................ 5 Rules That Require Public Notices in Newspapers..... ............... .... ... ......... ........ 5 3. THE COST TO THE STATE OF PUBLISHING NOTICES IN NEWSPAPERS OF GENERAL CIRCULATION ........................................................................ 57 Costs, Generally .................................................................................... 57 The Bureau's 1995 Survey Methodology.................................................. 61 Survey Results... .................................................................................... 61 Specific Findings from the LRB Survey Annual cost of Publishing Notices by State Agencies .... ... ......... ..... .......... 65 Advertising Costs by Department....... ........ ...... ............... .... ................ .... 65 Estimating Space Required for Publishing Legal Notices.. ......... ... ......... ... 66 Which Newspaper? ......... ..... ........... ......................... ... ....... .................... 66 Conclusions to be Drawn from LRB's Survey........................................... 67 4. OTHER STATES ............................................................................................ 68 1. Designation of An Official State Newspaper............................ 68 2. Definition of Newspaper...... ........ ......... ........ ............. ......... ... 69 3. Other Definitions................................................................... 70 4. Publication by Radio or Television ..... .... ..... ... ......... .... ... ........ 70 5. State Registers... ...... .......... ...... ..... ......... .......... ........... ... ...... 71 6. Literature Survey of Studies About Publication of Notices in Newspapers...................................................................... 75 Summary............................................................................................... 76 5. OPTIONS AND ALTERNATIVES ALTERNATIVES TO PUBLICATION OF LEGAL NOTICES IN NEWSPAPERS .... 77 Why Newspapers? ................................................................................. 77 iii Page Reduction of Costs................................................................................. 78 1. Policy Changes .................................................................... 78 A. Notices that are not Mandated by Law........................... 78 B. Hawaii Administrative Procedure Act (HAPA) Hearing Notices ........................................................... 78 Recent Changes to Section 91-3, Hawaii Revised Statutes....................... 79 c. Reduce Number of Times a Notice Must be Printed ....... 82 2. Alternative Newspaper Publication Methods .......................... 82 A. A Weekly Supplement to the Newspaper in the Form of an Insert.......................................................... 82 B. A "Block" or Full Page Ad in a Newspaper ........... .... ...... 83 C. Name an Official State Newspaper with Statewide Circulation................................................................... 84 3. Register; Contracts Weekly .................................................. 84 A. A Weekly State Register Printed by the State or by a Winning Bidder may be used to Publish all State Legal Notices in Full Text or in Summary Form...... ................. 84 B. Contracts Weekly ......................................................... 85 C. Weil Publishing ........ ...... ...... ..... ..... .... .... ... ...... ............. 86 4. Electronic Media .................................................................. 86 A. Cable Television as a Source of Government Notices..... 86 B. Notices on the Internet .. ... .... .............. ..... ............. ........ 87 Policy Considerations ...... ... ....... ....... ........ ...... ........... ...... ....... ................ 87 Summary............................................................................................... 88 6. FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS .......................................................... 97 Findings.......... ....... ...... .................. ........ ... ....... ...... ........... ....... ........ ..... 97 Recommendations.................... ............................................................. 98 EXHIBITS 1-A. Average Paid Circulation of Daily and Sunday English-Language Newspapers; 1990-91 To 1993-94.................................................................... 4 2-A. HRS Sections Requiring Legal Notice in Newspapers ....................................... 6 3-A. Price List 96-03 .............................................................................................. 58 3-B. The Honolulu Advertiser, Sunday, June 27, 1993.............................................. 60 iv Page 3-C. The Honolulu Advertiser, September 22, 1994.................................................. 61 3-D. Sunday Bulletin, June 5, 1995 ......................................................................... 64 3-E. Legal Notices: Cost to the State of Hawaii....................................................... 65 4-A. Characteristics of States with State Registers .................................................. 72 5-A. Register: South Dakota Legislative Research Council... .... ......... ...... ..... ........... 90 5-B. Maryland Contract Weekly, Volume 4, Issue 37, September 12, 1995................ 92 5-C. VBO, August 25, 1995 .................................................................................... 95 APPENDICES A. Senate Resolution No.3, The Senate, Eighteenth Legislature, 1995 Regular Session, State of Hawaii ................................................................................. 101 B. List of Occurrences ........................................................................................ 103 C. Public Notices Survey Form ............................................................................ 107 D. Act 64, Session Laws of Hawaii 1989............................................................... 112 v Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION Senate Resolution NO.3 (1995), a copy of which is attached as Appendix A, requested the Legislative Reference Bureau to evaluate the efficiency of using newspapers of general circulation as the sole means of publishing public notices required by law. The focus of this report is to determine the cost of publishing government notices in newspapers, and to examine other means of providing public notice. What are Public Notices and Why are They Necessary? Notice has been defined as "information concerning a fact, actually communicated to a person by an authorized person, or actually derived by him from a proper source".1 Notice is one of the principal components which distinguishes the actions of the government in a democratic society. Through public notices, the public is notified of public hearings and other actions contemplated by a governmental body. "The very purpose of requiring the publication of official notices is to inform the people concerning proceedings of a public nature for their general welfare."2 There are many reasons for giving notice. It may be required by contract, by rules of court, or by statute. In this study, the focus shall be on legal notices which are required by statute and paid for with public funds. It therefore does not include legal notices required by statute but paid for by private funds by an individual or corporation, such as a bank, private firm, or an applicant for some kind of official.act, like a name change. The legal notices with which this study is concerned are notices of public hearings as required by the Hawaii Administrative Procedure Act