Public Meeting Notice Reform NJ

On June 30, 2025, Governor Phil Murphy signed bill number S-4654/A-5878 into law.[1] This law was enacted in response to various daily newspapers ceasing their print editions, leaving many public entities without an official outlet to publish meeting notices required under the Open Public Meetings Act (“OPMA”) promulgated under N.J.S.A. 10:4-1 et seq. The OPMA has defined adequate notice of public meetings since 1976 as the following:

“Written advance notice of at least 48 hours, giving the time, date, location and, to the extent known, the agenda of any regular, special or rescheduled meeting, which notice shall accurately state whether formal action may or may not be taken and which shall be (1) prominently posted in at least one public place reserved for such or similar announcements, (2) mailed, telephoned, telegrammed, or hand delivered to at least two newspapers which newspapers shall be designated by the public body to receive such notices because they have the greatest likelihood of informing the public within the area of jurisdiction of the public body of such meetings, one of which shall be the official newspaper, where any such has been designated by the public body or if the public body has failed to so designate, where any has been designated by the governing body of the political subdivision whose geographic boundaries are coextensive with that of the public body and (3) filed with the clerk of the municipality when the public body’s geographic boundaries are coextensive with that of a single municipality, with the clerk of the county when the public body’s geographic boundaries are coextensive with that of a single county, and with the Secretary of State if the public body has Statewide jurisdiction.”

See N.J.S.A.§ 10:4-8

The new bill now requires public entities to publish legal notices on their official websites, with the requirement becoming mandatory on March 1, 2026, and optional before that date. See S-4654/A-5878. The websites must be publicly accessible and free of charge, with a clearly visible hyperlink to the legal notices page placed on the homepage. Id. The Secretary of State, with support from relevant state agencies, will also be tasked with creating a central webpage that includes links to each public entity’s legal notices page. Id. This page must also be accessible to the public at no cost and be prominently linked from the Secretary of State’s homepage. Id. Public entities must submit their legal notice webpage links to the Secretary of State and keep the information updated. Id.

Additionally, under the new law, public entities will be required to maintain an archive of legal notices for at least one (1) year, with each notice remaining online for at least one (1) week before being archived. Id. Local government units will be exempt from maintaining an archive until July 1, 2026. Id. The bill further provides that public entities may also publish legal notices in eligible online news publications, in addition to the public on its official website. Id. Eligible online news publications 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; (4) maintain an archive for at least one (1) year of notices; (5) display a legal notice for at least one week; (6) enable legal notices; (7) maintain an adequate security system; (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; and (10) have been in continuous operation for at least three years. Id. The bill also includes certain eligibility requirements for municipal-wide, county-wide and state-wide circulation. Id. If the public entity chooses to publish or advertise its legal notices in an online news publication, the public entity should provide notice in a prominent location on its official Internet website that states that it publishes in online newspapers, and the entity should provide a hyperlink to the online news publication. Id.

Starting January 1, 2026, public entities will be required to place advertisements at least twice a month in eligible online news publications. Id. These ads must inform the public that full legal notices can be viewed or obtained on the entity’s official website and include a hyperlink to the Secretary of State’s central legal notices page, with certain exceptions. Id. The bill also updates current law to allow newspapers, used between January 1, 2024, and December 31, 2024, for legal notices, including but not limited to, providing adequate notice of a meeting, the solicitation of bids, qualifications or proposals or the publication of any ordinances, etc. is to remain eligible through March 1, 2026, regardless of whether they are in print or electronic format.

The bill takes effect immediately.

In sum, this bill modernizes the process of publishing legal notices by requiring public entities to post them on their official websites, with full implementation set for March 1, 2026. It addresses the growing challenge posed by the cessation of print editions by many daily newspapers, which has made it difficult for public entities to comply with existing public notice requirements under the OPMA. Public entities should consult with their legal counsel to ensure proper compliance with the new public notice provisions.

[1] The full text of the bill can be found here.