Recently, I got a message from a clerk at a county sheriff's office wondering about what all the new public notice changes mean to her.

Here's my response. Please feel free to use this information to help educate the local clerks and government workers about the change in the law and what it means to them. During the 2009 Legislative Session, Utah lawmakers passed SB208 (Third Substitute) which requires Utah newspapers to create a central and searchable online depository of legal notices on a Web site. UtahLegals.com is now in beta testing and open to view. The site provides the following features:

--Browse functions

--Key word search

--Search by date

--Search by newspaper

--RSS feeds by newspaper

--E-mail alert function based on key word

Under the statute:

-- All government entities will be required to post legal notices, including truth-in-taxation ads, in newspapers of general circulation and on UtahLegals.com Web site starting Jan. 1, 2010. There can be no charge to place the notice on the Web site before Jan. 1. 2010. Currently, any notice placed in a Utah newspaper automatically is copied onto the Web site.

-- Government entities in Salt Lake, Davis, Weber, Utah, and Washington counties will be required to post their notices online after Jan. 1, 2012 and "may" publish in the newspaper after that date. After 2012, the statue reads that only $10 may be charged for the online notice.

-- Government entities in counties of 3rd to 6th class will still be required to publish in both the newspaper and online after Jan. 1, 2012.

-- Along with the traditional placement through newspapers, individuals may be able to place legal notices through the online system expected to be functional by December. The online system will require users to select a local newspaper of general circulation for publication.

-- This bill did not affect public meeting notices. Government entities will still be required to post public meeting notices on the State Public Meeting Notice Web Site http://www.utah.gov/pmn and notify newspapers of public meetings by e-mail through the online subscription system.

What does this all mean to local government entities?

Utah newspaper publishers have committed to legislators that will continue to accept public notices, as they have in the past, and print them in the newspaper and post them to the online Web site. It is expected that little will change in the transaction to post public notices other than that now newspapers have the responsibility to post the notices online. After Jan. 1, 2012, government entities in Salt Lake, Davis, Weber, Utah and Washington counties may choose to publish the notice in the newspaper, but newspapers will still process the “online only” notices for governmental entities. Entities may also choose to place the ad directly through the online Web site.

Here's a link to the full bill:

http://le.utah.gov/~2009/bills/sbillamd/sb0208s03.htm. The information about change dates is found on lines 6533-6560.