The Florida Senate
BILL ANALYSIS AND FISCAL IMPACT STATEMENT
(This document is based on the provisions contained in the legislation as of the latest date listed below.)
Prepared By: The Professional Staff of the Committee on Appropriations
BILL: CS/CS/SB 402
INTRODUCER: Appropriations Committee; Judiciary Committee; and Senator Rodrigues
SUBJECT: Legal Notices
DATE: April 21, 2021 REVISED:
ANALYST STAFF DIRECTOR REFERENCE ACTION
1. Ravelo Cibula JU Fav/CS
2. Forbes Harkness ACJ Recommend: Fav/CS
3. Ravelo Sadberry AP Fav/CS
Please see Section IX. for Additional Information:
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE - Substantial Changes
I. Summary:
CS/CS/SB 402 gives a governmental agency the option to publish government agency notices on
newspaper website instead of only in a print-based newspaper. An agency wishing to exercise
this option may only do so upon the agency finding, pursuant to a publicly noticed hearing, that
such an Internet-based publication is in the public interest and that residents have sufficient
access to the Internet in order to review any legal notices published in this format. Any legal
notice published in print or through a website must also be published on the statewide legal
notice website: www.FloridaPublicNotices.com.
Additionally, the bill expands the types of publications that qualify for the posting of legal
notices. Currently, a newspaper must, among other requirements, be “for sale to the general
public” and be qualified to be admitted and entered as a periodical matter the local post office.
By removing these two requirements, the bill will allow for legal notices to be published in some
smaller publications that are free to the public.
The bill amends several sections of the Florida Statutes to conform the authority of a government
agency to post legal advertisements and notices on the Internet.
The bill is effective January 1, 2022.
BILL: CS/CS/SB 402 Page 2
II. Present Situation:
The Florida Constitution requires that certain meetings between public officials be “open and
noticed to the public.”1 Generally, this requirement applies to meetings where official acts will
be taken, or where public business will be transacted or discussed.
Similarly, procedural due process requires that a citizen receive proper notice of any government
action that may affect his or her life, liberty, or property. The purpose of this notice is “to apprise
interested parties of the pendency of the action and afford them an opportunity to present their
objections” 2 and “must be of such nature as reasonably to convey the required information.”3
Historically, notice can be established by service of process by personally and directly delivering
the notice to the interested party.4 Issues may arise, for example, when an interested party is
difficult to locate or when someone is purposefully avoiding service.5 Likewise, some
government actions such as public meetings affect so many interested individuals that it becomes
implausible to individually notice each interested individual. To balance these interests, the
Legislature has provided options to satisfy notice requirements for both litigation purposes as
well as notices of public meetings and actions.
Statutory Notice Requirements
Florida law requires that all legal notices and publications, including those made in lieu of
service of process, be made in a newspaper that:
 Is printed and published at least once a week;
 Contains at least 25 percent of its words in the English language;
 Is considered a periodical by the post office in the county where it is published;
 Is for sale to the public generally;
 Customarily contains information of public interest to the residents or property owners in the
county where it is published or is of interest or of value to the general public;6 and
 Has been in existence for at least 1 year at the time the notice is published.7
If no newspaper is published in the county, three copies of the notice or advertisement must be
posted in the county, with one being posted at the front door of the courthouse, two others posted
1
Art. I, s. 24(b), Fla. Const.
2
Mullane v. Central Hanover Bank & Trust Co., 339 U.S. 306, 314 (1950).
3
Id.
4
“Personal service guarantees actual notice of the pendency of a legal action; it thus presents the ideal circumstance under
which to commence legal proceedings against a person, and has traditionally been deemed necessary in actions styled.”
Greene v. Lindsey, 456 U.S. 444, 449 (1982).
5
“Where person to be served with process flees from presence of process server in a deliberate attempt to avoid service of
process, the delivery requirement may be satisfied if the process server leaves the papers at a place in which such person can
easily retrieve them and takes reasonable steps to call such delivery to the attention of the person to be served.” Olin Corp. v.
Haney, 245 So. 2d 669 (Fla. 4th DCA 1971). This only applies, however, to a service of process made at the individual’s
“usual place of abode.” Section 48.031, F.S.
6
Section 50.011, F.S.
7
Section 50.031, F.S.
BILL: CS/CS/SB 402 Page 3
at other locations in the county, and by publication of the notice in the nearest county where a
newspaper is published.8
A newspaper publishing any notice is also tasked with placing the notice on a statewide website
established and maintained by the Florida Press Association.9 This website must be accessible
and searchable by party name and case number, and each notice must be posted for at least 90
days.10 This provision of Florida law is similar to statewide legal notice websites established in
Alabama,11 Colorado,12 Illinois,13 Louisiana,14 Maine,15 Massachusetts,16 North Dakota,17 Ohio,18
Tennessee,19 Utah,20 Virginia,21 and Wisconsin.22 The above states require that any notice
published in a newspaper as set forth by law also be published in a statewide website maintained
and operated by a private entity on behalf of the newspapers of that state, such as a union or trade
group.
Newspaper Website
Florida law further provides that if the newspaper publishing the notice maintains a website, the
legal notice must be published on the website the same day that it appears in the newspaper at no
additional charge.23 The newspaper’s website must contain a search function to facilitate
searching for legal notices.24 Registration cannot be a requirement, nor can a fee be charged, for
searching or viewing legal notices on a newspaper’s website if the legal notices are published in
a newspaper.25
Fees
The fees for a legal notice published in a newspaper are set by statute and may not be rebated,
commissioned, or refunded. The charge for publishing a legal notice is set by statute at 70 cents
per square inch for the first insertion and 40 cents per square inch for each subsequent insertion.
Notices required to be published more than once and paid for by the government entity may not
be charged greater than 85 percent of the original rate for second and successive insertions. If the
regular established minimum commercial rate per square inch is greater than the rate stipulated
in statute, the publisher may charge the minimum commercial rate for each insertion, except that
8
Section 50.021, F.S.
9
Section 50.021, F.S. The website established by the Florida Press Association, Florida Public Notices, is available at
https://www.floridapublicnotices.com/.
10
Id.
11
Ala. Code § 6-8-62.
12
Colo. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 24-70-103.
13
715 Ill. Comp. Stat. Ann. 5/2.1.
14
La. Stat. Ann. § 43:111E.
15
Me. Rev. Stat. tit. 1, § 603(2).
16
Mass. Gen. Laws Ann. ch. 4, § 13.
17
N.D. Cent. Code Ann. § 46-05-09.
18
Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 125.182(a).
19
Tenn. Code Ann. § 1-3-120(a)(2).
20
Utah Code Ann. § 45-1-101(2)(b).
21
Va. Code Ann. § 8.01-324(g).
22
Wis. Stat. Ann. § 985.01(7).
23
Section 50.0211(2), F.S.
24
Id.
25
Id.
BILL: CS/CS/SB 402 Page 4
notices required to be published more than once and paid for by the government entity may not
be charged greater than 85 percent of the original rate for second and successive insertions. All
notices and legal advertisements are charged on the basis of 6-point type on 6-point body, unless
otherwise specified by statute.26
Actual fees vary depending on the type of notice requested, the size of the notice, any subsequent
insertions or publications, as well as which newspaper publicizes the notice. The Tampa Bay
Times, for example, charges $200 for a “full run” of a notice of a foreclosure action.27 If the
notice needs to be up for more than 2 days, the charge increases to $400. Additionally, the per-
line cost above the included 165 line limit is $6.45.
Proof of Publication
If an affidavit of proof of publication is required for a legal notice, the affidavit must comply
with certain standards. Specifically, the affidavit must:
 Be printed upon white paper;
 Be 8.5 inches in width and at least 5.5 inches in length; and
 Contain a margin of at least 2.5 inches at the right side of the affidavit form with a clipping
of a true copy of the public notice or legal advertisement that was executed.28
The affidavit may be provided electronically so long is it complies with the electronic
notarization requirements.29
If the proof of publication is in a county having a population in excess of 450,000 according to
the latest decennial census, the publication may charge a maximum fee of $2 for the preparation
and execution of each of proof of publication.30
III. Effect of Proposed Changes:
Newspapers Authorized to Publish Legal Notices
The bill provides an option for governmental agencies required by law to publish certain legal
notices to publish those notices on a newspaper’s website in lieu of a paper-based publication. A
governmental agency may publish certain legal notices in an Internet-only publication with a
newspaper of general circulation within the jurisdiction of the affected governmental agency.
The bill requires governmental agencies to provide notice to the general public before using an
Internet-only publication. Specifically, the governmental agency must give notice of its intent in
a print edition of a newspaper and conduct a public hearing. The public hearing is meant to
determine that an Internet-only publication is in the public interest and that the residents within
26
Section 50.061, F.S.
27
For the Tampa Bay Times, a “full run” includes all of Pinellas, Pasco, Hernando, Citrus, and Hillsborough counties. Opting
for an individual run of a specific county costs $135 for Pasco County and $155 for Hillsborough or Pinellas Counties.
TAMPA BAY TIMES, Certified Legal Rates, https://www.tampabay.com/resources/images/marketing/mediakit/pdf/Legal-Rate-
Card.pdf (last visited January 21, 2021)
28
Section 50.041(2), F.S.
29
Section 117.021, F.S., contains additional requirements for documents notarized electronically.
30
Section 50.041(3), F.S.
BILL: CS/CS/SB 402 Page 5
the jurisdiction of the governmental agency have sufficient access to the Internet. This
determination must be made by a majority vote of the governing body.
To qualify as a newspaper of general circulation for the purpose of publishing legal notices in
print or online only formats, the bill generally requires the newspaper to:
 Be printed and published at least once a week;
 Contain at least 25 percent of its words in the English language;
 Have an audience consisting of at least 10 percent of the households in the county, and if the
notice is issued by a nongovernmental entity, the newspaper must have an audience of at
least 10 percent of the households of the county or municipality in which the project,
property or other subject of the notice is located;
 Be sold or otherwise available to the public at no less than 10 publicly accessible outlets;
 Be available to the public generally for the publication of official or other notices with no
more than 75 percent of its content dedicated toward advertising; and
 Continually publish in a prominent manner the name, street address, phone number, website
URL of the newspaper’s approved print auditor, the newspaper’s most recent statement of
ownership, and a statement of the auditor certifying the veracity of the newspaper’s print
distribution and the number of the newspaper’s website’s monthly unique visitors, or the
newspaper’s periodicals permit, if applicable, within the first five pages of the print edition
and the bottom portion of the homepage of the newspaper’s website.
A newspaper that holds a periodicals permit as of March 1, 2021 and accepts legal notices for
publication may continue to publish legal notices through December 31, 2023 so long as the
newspaper meets the requirements under current law, which were enacted through section 21 of
chapter 99-2, Laws of Florida. Beginning January 1, 2024, such newspapers must meet the
criteria listed above. Additionally, a newspaper that holds a periodicals permit and that publishes
legal notices in a fiscally constrained county is not subjected to items 3 and 4 of the above
requirements. The bill defines a fiscally constrained county as a county within a rural area of
opportunity designated by the Governor or a county for which the value of a mill will raise no
more than $5 million in revenue based on the certified taxable value of the previous July 1.
Under current law, a newspaper must additionally be “for sale to the general public” and entered
as a periodical matter at the local post office in the county where the newspaper is published. By
removing these two requirements, the bill allows for legal notices to be published using non-
subscription based publications and publications that may not be recognized as periodical matter
by the local post office.
The bill requires the Florida Press Association to ensure that minority populations throughout the
state have equitable access to legal notices that are posted on the statewide website. The Florida
Press Association must publish a report listing all newspapers that have placed notices on the
statewide legal notice website in the preceding calendar quarter. The reports for the four
preceding calendar quarters must be available on the website.
BILL: CS/CS/SB 402 Page 6
Government Agency Legal Notices
The bill defines a governmental agency as a county, municipality, district school board, or other
unit of a local government or political subdivision in this state. The bill provides that
governmental agency notices that may be published in newspaper under the bill include:
 Notices related to special or legal legislation pursuant to s. 11.02, F.S.;
 Educational unit notices pursuant to s. 120.81, F.S.;
 Retirement system notices pursuant to s. 121.0511., F.S.;
 Notices related to inclusion of positions in the Senior Management Service Class of the
Florida Retirement System pursuant to s. 121.055, F.S.;
 Notices proposing the enactment of county ordinances pursuant to s. 125.66, F.S.;
 Code enforcement notices published pursuant to s. 162.12, F.S.;
 Notices proposing the enactment of municipal ordinances pursuant to s. 166.041, F.S.;
 Special district meeting notices pursuant to s. 189.015, F.S.;
 Establishment and termination notices for community development districts pursuant to
ss. 190.005 and 190.046, F.S., respectively;
 Disclosures of tax impact by value adjustment boards pursuant to s. 194.037, F.S.;
 Advertisements of real or personal property with delinquent taxes pursuant to s. 197.402,
F.S.;
 Advertisements of hearing notices, millage rates, and budgets pursuant to s. 200.065, F.S.;
 Turnpike project notices pursuant to s. 338.223, F.S.;
 Public-private partnership notices pursuant to ss. 348.0308 and 348.7605, F.S.;
 Notices of prime recharge area designations for the Floridan and Biscayne