Louisiana is first state with a law that will make online public notices the ones for which newspapers will be paid

The state-by-state battle over public notices, which have become a vital source of income for newspapers, has taken a new twist. "Last week, Louisiana became the first state to pass a law that will eventually make newspaper websites the primary platform for public notice," with local governments paying for online ads but not print ads, the Public Notice Resource Center reports.

Local governments will be required to post their notices on newspaper websites in 2027, and publish in print "notices describing the subject matter and location of the online notices," PNRC reports, but those notices will be free and the online ads will be paid.

The Louisiana Press Association proposed the bill as a compromise to head off "the potential of a worse outcome later," PNRC reports. The bill replaces the "complicated pricing structure" for public notices with a system based on the number of text characters, or by "a price-per-square-inch formula for display ads and other prebuilt notices. That structure, which newspapers and their local government clients can opt to use beginning Jan. 1, 2024, is particularly well-suited to pricing online ads when the transition to digital notice takes place three years later."

LPA Executive Director Jerry Raehal said the new system may "result in a revenue decrease for LPA members but he emphasizes it was part of a compromise designed to secure the future of public notice in the state," PNRC reports. Raehal said it is “a win-win-win,” because “Local governments get some economic relief and a more transparent pricing model. Local newspapers get a path forward to retain public notices in a digital format, and a runway to prepare for the changes. And Louisiana citizens maintain easy access to government notices from a trusted source.”

The bill, which made several other changes in Louisiana's public-notice law, passed both houses unanimously and is expected to be signed by Gov. Jon Bel Edwards when it reaches his desk.