The AI workspace for legal professionals
- Legal research with access to more than 1 million sources
- Document automation
- Matter management
- Hosted in the EU and Switzerland
Try it free for 14 days (10 questions/day during trial)
The AI workspace for legal professionals
Try it free for 14 days (10 questions/day during trial)
title-35•Title 35 — Legal Advertisements
As used in this title, "official advertising" and "official advertisements" include all matters required by law to be published.
All newspapers printed and published in the English language within the state at least once a week for at least one year continuously shall be deemed legal newspapers for the publication of official advertisements.
Any court or county officer may publish official advertisements in any Sunday newspaper published in the county for the period of at least one year and such publication shall be valid in all respects.
Wherever publication of a legal notice of any kind is authorized or required to be published in a newspaper, such publication may be made in a newspaper published on any Sunday in the same manner and to the same effect as though such newspaper were published on a day of the week other than a Sunday; provided, that the newspaper in which such publication shall be had is printed and published in the English language, within this State, and has been or shall have been published at least once a week for at least 2 years continuously.
Whenever it is required to publish resolutions, official proclamations, notices or advertising of any sort, kind or character, including proposals for bids on public work and otherwise, by this State or by any board or body constituted and established for the performance of any State duty or by any State official or office or commission, the newspaper or newspapers selected for such publication must meet and satisfy the following qualifications, namely: said newspaper or newspapers shall be entirely printed in the English language, shall be printed and published within the State of New Jersey, shall be a newspaper of general paid circulation possessing an average news content of not less than thirty-five per centum (35%), shall have been published continuously in the municipality where its publication office is situate for not less than two years and shall have been entered for two years as second-class mail matter under the postal laws and regulations of the United States. In case a newspaper cannot meet these qualifications, itself, but has acquired another newspaper which meets these qualifications, the acquiring newspaper shall be deemed to meet these qualifications if it is published in the same municipality and entered in the same post office as was the acquired newspaper. Continuous publication within the meaning of this section shall not be deemed interrupted by any involuntary suspension of publication for a period not exceeding six months, resulting from loss, destruction, mechanical or electrical failure of typesetting equipment or printing presses or the unavailability, due to conditions beyond the control of the publisher, of paper or other materials and supplies necessary for operation, or resulting from a labor dispute with a recognized labor union, and any newspaper so affected shall not be disqualified hereunder in the event that publication is resumed within said period of six months.
a. Whenever, until March 1, 2026, by law, it is required that there be published by printing and publishing in a newspaper or newspapers, ordinances, resolutions, or notices or advertisements of any sort, kind, or character by any county, city, or other municipality or municipal corporation, or by any municipal board or official board, or body, or office, or officials, or by any person or corporation, the newspaper or newspapers shall, in addition to any other qualification now required by law, meet the following qualifications, namely: the newspaper or newspapers shall be entirely printed in the English language, shall be printed and published within the State of New Jersey, shall be a newspaper of general paid circulation possessing an average news content of not less than 35 percent, shall have been published continuously in the municipality where its publication office is situate for not less than two years and shall have been entered for two years as second-class mail matter under the postal laws and regulations of the United States. In case a newspaper cannot meet these qualifications itself but has acquired another newspaper which meets these qualifications, the acquiring newspaper shall be deemed to meet these qualifications if it is published in the same municipality and entered in the same post office as was the acquired newspaper. Continuous publication within the meaning of this section shall not be deemed interrupted by any involuntary suspension of publication for a period not exceeding six months resulting from loss, destruction, mechanical or electrical failure of typesetting equipment or printing presses or the unavailability, due to conditions beyond the control or the publisher, of paper or other materials and supplies necessary for operation, or resulting from a labor dispute with a recognized labor union, and any newspaper so affected shall not be disqualified hereunder in the event that publication is resumed within said period of six months.
For the purposes of this section and for the purpose of qualifying for legal advertisements generally, any newspaper which for not less than two years shall have been continuously printed in a building located within two municipalities and which for not less than two years shall have continuously maintained its editorial and business offices in said building shall be deemed to have been published continuously in each of said municipalities during that period and its publication office shall be deemed to have been situate in each municipality during that period.
In the event any newspaper which shall have been qualified to publish legal advertisements shall move its publication office to any municipality in the same county or in an adjacent county in this State and which shall otherwise continue to meet the qualifications of this section, it shall be qualified to publish legal advertisements which it was qualified to publish prior to moving said publication office for a period of two years after the date of the moving of its publication office or such period as the newspaper shall have the highest paid circulation of any newspaper within the county or municipality which shall use said newspaper for legal advertisements.
b. In lieu of the requirements of subsection a. of this section, whenever, until March 1, 2026, by law, it is required that there be published by printing and publishing in a newspaper or newspapers, ordinances, resolutions, or notices or advertisements of any sort, kind, or character by any county, city, or other municipality or municipal corporation, or by any municipal board or official board, or body, or office, or officials, or by any person or corporation, the newspaper or newspapers may be published consistent with section 2 or 3, as applicable, of P.L.2025, c.72 (C.35:3-2 or C.35:3-3).
c. After March 1, 2026 whenever, by law, it is required that there be published by printing and publishing in a newspaper or newspapers, ordinances, resolutions, or notices or advertisements of any sort, kind, or character by any county, city, or other municipality or municipal corporation, or by any municipal board or official board, or body, or office, or officials, or by any person or corporation, the newspaper or newspapers shall be published consistent with section 2 or 3, as applicable, of P.L.2025, c.72 (C.35:3-2 or C.35:3-3).
Notwithstanding any other provision of law whenever, by law, it is required that there be published by printing and publishing in a newspaper, which meets the qualifications set forth in Revised Statutes 35:1-2.2, ordinances, resolutions or notices or advertisements of any sort, kind or character by any county, or by any city or other municipality or municipal corporation, or by any municipal board or official board, or body, or office, or officials, or by any person or corporation of such county, such notice or advertisement may be published in a newspaper published in such county or municipality, as may be required by the statute prescribing the method of publication, except that there shall hereafter be no requirement that the newspaper be printed in any such county or municipality provided that the said newspaper is printed in the State of New Jersey.
If any person heretofore and subsequent to December seventh, one thousand nine hundred and forty-one, entered, or hereafter, in time of war, shall enter the active military or naval service of the United States, or the active service of the United States Merchant Marine, and such person at the time of such entry was or is the owner of a legal newspaper meeting and satisfying all the qualifications for the publication of official advertisements, and such newspaper was or is obliged to suspend publication because of such entry of such person, such newspaper upon resumption of publication within six months after the time of such person's discharge from such service, or within six months after the time of such person's death while in service, shall be deemed to have met and satisfied all the qualifications of a legal newspaper for the publication of official advertisements during the whole of such period of suspension.
The name of any newspaper published within the state may be changed by recording and filing a certificate under the hand of its proprietor, or if its proprietor be a corporation under the corporate seal, setting forth the name of the newspaper, its proprietorship, place of publication, the new name adopted and the date when the change of name shall take effect, which shall be not less than one week after the filing of the certificate.
The execution of the certificate shall be proved or acknowledged as required for deeds of real estate and shall be recorded in a book to be kept for that purpose in the office of the clerk of the county in which the newspaper is published, and after being recorded shall be filed in the office of the secretary of state. The certificate or a copy duly certified by the secretary of state shall be competent evidence in any court.
When a newspaper shall change its name as provided in section 35:1-3 of this title, its continuance as a legal newspaper shall not be interrupted nor shall the validity of any legal publication be in anywise affected.
The price to be paid for publishing all official advertising as defined in R.S. 35:1-1 in newspapers shall be as follows:
In newspapers published in the State of New Jersey having a bona fide net paid circulation of up to 2,500 copies, the rate shall be $0.25 per line for each insertion; in the case of any newspaper having a bona fide net paid circulation of not less than 2,500 copies nor more than 5,000 copies, the rate shall be $0.31 per line for each insertion; and in the case of any newspaper having a bona fide net paid circulation of not less than 5,000 copies and not more than 10,000 copies, the rate shall be $0.34 per line per insertion; and in the case of any newspaper having a bona fide net paid circulation of not less than 10,000 copies and not more than 30,000 copies, the rate shall be $0.35 per line per insertion; and in the case of any newspaper having a bona fide net paid circulation of not less than 30,000 and not more than 45,000 copies, the rate shall be $0.36 per line per insertion; and in the case of any newspaper having a bona fide net paid circulation of not less than 45,000 copies and not more than 60,000 copies, the rate shall be $0.38 per line per insertion; and in the case of any newspaper having a bona fide net paid circulation of not less than 60,000 copies and not more than 75,000 copies, the rate shall be $0.44 per line per insertion; and in the case of any newspaper having bona fide net paid circulation of not less than 75,000 copies and of more than 100,000 copies, the rate shall be $0.60 per line per insertion; and in the case of any newspaper having a bona fide net paid circulation of not less than 100,000 copies, and not more than 125,000 copies, the rate shall be $0.66 per line per insertion; and in the case of any newspaper having a bona fide net paid circulation of not less than 125,000 copies, and not more than 150,000, the rate shall be $0.72 per line per insertion; and in the case of any newspaper having a bona fide net paid circulation of not less than 150,000 copies and not more than 200,000 copies, the rate shall be $0.82 per line per insertion; and in the case of newspapers having a bona fide net paid circulation of not less than 200,000 copies and not more than 300,000 copies, the rate shall be $0.91 per line per insertion; and in the case of any newspaper having a bona fide net paid circulation in excess of 300,000 copies the rate shall be $1.00 per line per insertion; but before any newspaper can charge the foregoing rates, the publisher or business manager of such newspaper must file with the properly authorized officer of every municipality, county or governing body, placing official advertising in such newspaper, an affidavit setting forth the average net paid circulation of such newspaper for the 12-month period ending September 30 next preceding and the rate to be charged for official advertising, which in no case shall be in excess of, or below, the rates provided in the foregoing schedule.
Lines shall be calculated upon the basis of the space that a 6 point line, 8 picas wide would occupy.
The price fixed for "subsequent insertions" shall apply only to subsequent insertions in issues of consecutive weeks.
There shall be printed and published on and with every official advertisement a statement of the price therefor established by law, which price shall be the legal amount due for the whole length of time that the same is to be published. No charge shall be made or recovery had for publishing any official advertising unaccompanied by such statement of price.
When in the judgment of the governing body of any county, city, town, borough or township or any municipality or any division thereof, it is to the best interest to bring to the attention of the greatest possible number of its citizens, any of its legal notices, ordinances, resolutions, audits or notice of any kind, it shall be lawful for said governing body of any said county, city, town, borough or township or any municipality or any division of the same to cause to be published its legal notices, ordinances, resolutions, audits or notices of any kind at the legal rates fixed by law, in any newspaper legally qualified published outside of said county, city, town, borough, township or municipality thereof, but circulated within said county, city, town, borough, township or municipality; provided, same is published within the State of New Jersey, when in their judgment said publication will inform the greatest number of its citizens of any action of said governing body; and provided further, that the number of insertions shall not exceed the number required by law.
This authorization of such publication shall in no wise relieve the governing body from the requirements of publication of all legal notices, ordinances, resolutions, audits or notices in any newspaper published within the county, city, borough, township or municipality now, duly authorized by law to publish the same but shall be in addition to the legal requirements and not in place thereof.
"Electronic format" means an Internet website and other technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or similar capabilities that is operated by or for a newspaper for publication.
"IP address" means an Internet Protocol address.
"Legal notice" means any resolution, official proclamation, notice, or advertisement of any sort, kind, or character, including proposals for bids on public work and otherwise, required by law or by the order or rule of any court to be published by a public entity, corporation, an individual, or any other entity.
"Local government unit" means a county, municipality, or other political subdivision of the State, or any agency, board, commission, utilities authority or other authority, or other entity thereof, or a person who is a local government unit officer or employee.
"Online news publication" means a news publication in electronic format that contains news on matters of public concern and has published news predominantly in the English language at least once per week for at least one year continuously.
"Print newspaper" means a news publication in print form that contains news on matters of public concern and has published news predominantly in the English language at least once per week for at least one year continuously.
"Public entity" means the State, any State agency, and any local government unit, district, public authority, public agency, and any other political subdivision or political body in the State.
"Secretary" means the Secretary of State.
"State agency" means any of the principal departments in the Executive Branch of the State Government and any division, board, bureau, office, commission, or other instrumentality within or created by a department and, to the extent consistent with law, any interstate agency to which New Jersey is a party and any independent State authority, commission, instrumentality, or agency. A local government unit shall not be deemed an agency or instrumentality of the State.
b. No later than March 1, 2026, the Secretary of State, with support from the Office of Information Technology and any other State agency the secretary deems necessary, shall establish an Internet webpage on which shall be included hyperlinks to the legal notices webpage of each public entity created pursuant to subsection a. of this section. The legal notices hyperlink webpage established by the secretary shall be accessible and available to the public free of charge and shall be accessible by direct hyperlink conspicuously placed on the Secretary of State's Internet homepage. Each public entity shall submit the hyperlink to the Secretary of State and provide any updates thereto prior to effectuation.
c. No later than March 1, 2026, a public entity shall maintain an Internet archive of legal notices that are no longer displayed, which shall be kept for at least one year. The archive shall not be subject to any records retention schedule adopted by the State Records Committee nor to the "Destruction of Public Records Law (1953)," P.L.1953, c.410 (C.47:3-15 et seq.). A public entity shall display a legal notice on its legal notices Internet webpage for at least one week, or other time period as required by law, before transferring the publication to the public entity's Internet archive. A local government unit shall initially publish an Internet archive no later than July 1, 2026 and shall maintain the archive thereafter.
d. A local government unit may, in addition to the publication on its official Internet website pursuant to subsection a. of this section, publish or advertise a legal notice separately on an eligible online news publication that meets the criteria of subsection b. of section 3 of P.L.2025, c.72 (C.35:3-3). The local government unit shall provide a notice in a prominent location on its official Internet website if it publishes or advertises its legal notices in an online news publication and shall publish a hyperlink to the online news publication.
(2) The corporation, individual, or other entity shall select an online news publication based on the geographic target as established or implied under the law, court order, or court rule requiring publication.
b. To be an eligible online news publication under subsection a. of this section, an online news publication shall:
(1) use a domain name for the Internet website that will be easily recognizable and understandable to users of the website as belonging to that online news publication;
(2) maintain the online news publication on the Internet in a manner that is fully accessible and searchable by members of the public at all times, other than during routine maintenance or circumstances outside of the operator's control;
(3) ensure that legal notices published or advertised on the online news publication comply with the requirements that would apply to the legal notices if they were published in a physical newspaper, as applicable;
(4) maintain an archive for at least one year of notices that are no longer displayed on the online news publication;
(5) display a legal notice for at least one week, or other time period as required by law, before placing it in archive;
(6) enable legal notices, both those currently displayed and those archived, to be accessed by key word, by party name, by case number, by county, or other useful identifiers;
(7) maintain an adequate security system and develop a contingency plan for coping with and recovering from power outages, systemic failures, and other unforeseen circumstances;
(8) not charge a fee or require registration or a subscription to view legal notices;
(9) maintain media liability insurance of up to $1 million;
(10) have been in continuous operation for at least three years, which can be satisfied by the online news publication itself or by a company that has a controlling or majority interest in the online news publication; and
(11) (a) provide the number of monthly unique website visits and monthly unique website visits by users in this State and in each county, as evidenced by IP address or other appropriate identifier, which shall be prominently displayed on the Internet homepage of the online news publication along with the criteria provided in this subsection, or a hyperlink to a webpage displaying such criteria, and whether the online news publication meets each criteria.
(b) (i) To qualify as an online news publication eligible to publish legal notices for municipal-wide circulation, the online news publication shall receive 4,000 unique monthly visits on average as calculated annually, no less than 50 percent of which shall be from IP addresses within the applicable municipality or within a 10-mile radius of the municipality.
(ii) To qualify as an online news publication eligible to publish legal notices for county-wide circulation, the online news publication shall receive 50,000 unique monthly visits on average as calculated annually, no less than 50 percent of which shall be from IP addresses within the applicable county or within a 10-mile radius of the county.
(iii) To qualify as an online news publication eligible to publish legal notices for State-wide circulation, the online news publication shall receive 350,000 unique monthly visits on average as calculated annually, no less than 50 percent of which shall be from IP addresses within the State.
c. The price to be paid for publishing all public notices or legal notices in an online news publication pursuant to P.L.2025, c.72 (C.35:3-1 et al.), shall not exceed the rates established pursuant to R.S.35:2-1.
d. Unless otherwise provided pursuant to applicable law or court rule or order, an online news publication that receives a legal notice for publication pursuant to this section shall publish the notice within 24 hours of receipt.
e. An online news publication that falsely represents that it meets the criteria established pursuant to subsection b. of this section and accepts legal notices for publication shall deemed to have committed an unlawful practice under P.L.1960, c.39 (C.56:8-1 et seq.) and liable to enforcement by the Attorney General pursuant to the provisions of P.L.1960, c.39 (C.56:8-1 et seq.).
b. A public entity, corporation, or individual shall be deemed to satisfy their legal obligations to provide a legal notice upon publication of the notice as required pursuant to P.L.2025, c.72 (C.35:3-1 et al.).
c. Legal notices published on a public entity's Internet website or the Internet website of an online news publication in accordance with P.L.2025, c.72 (C.35:3-1 et al.) shall not be deemed defective if at least one of the following circumstances exist:
(1) there is an error in the content or form of the legal notice published or advertised on a public entity's Internet website or online news publication due to a clerical, administrative, or any other error outside of the control of the public entity, corporation, or individual required by law or court order or rule to publish the legal notice;
(2) there is a temporary outage, technical malfunction, disruption, or service interruption preventing the publishing, posting, or display of a legal notice on the public entity's Internet website or online news publication;
(3) the operator of the public entity's Internet website or the online news publication imposes standard restrictions that prevent access to the website or online news publication;
(4) the public entity's Internet website or the online news publication is subject to a cyberattack or cybersecurity incident, including, but not limited to, ransomware or a data breach, causing the failure to timely or accurately publish the legal notice; or
(5) any other circumstances preventing the publishing, posting, or display of a legal notice on the public entity Internet website or online news publication that are outside of the control of the public entity, corporation, or individual required by law or court order or rule to publish the legal notice.
(1) states that the complete text of each legal notice may be obtained or viewed by the public on the official Internet website of each public entity; and
(2) provides the hyperlink to the Secretary of State's legal notices hyperlink Internet webpage established pursuant to subsection b. of section 2 of P.L.2025, c.72 (C.35:3-2).
b. Until the Secretary of State establishes the legal notices hyperlinks Internet webpage pursuant to subsection b. of section 2 of P.L.2025, c.72 (C.35:3-2), a public entity that elects to comply with the provisions of P.L.2025, c.72 (C.35:3-1 et al.) shall be deemed to have satisfied the requirements of P.L.2025, c.72 (C.35:3-1 et al.) without publication of the public entity's hyperlink on the Internet webpage to be established pursuant to subsection b. of section 2 of P.L.2025, c.72 (C.35:3-2).
Connect Omnilex to search the legal corpus from your AI assistant.