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SENATE FLOOR VERSION
April 17, 2025
ENGROSSED HOUSE
BILL NO. 2166 By: Pfeiffer of the House
and
Coleman of the Senate
An Act relating to definitions and general
provisions; amending 25 O.S. 2021, Section 106, which
relates to newspapers; defin ing term; prescribing
requirements; imposing duties upon periodical and
nonperiodical newspapers; imposing restrictions based
on geographical location; providing publication
provisions; relating to the continuity of publication
and the failure to maintain continuous and
consecutive publication ; and providing an effective
date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 25 O.S. 2021, Section 106, is
amended to read as follows:
Section 106. No legal notice, advertisement, or publication of
any kind required or provided for by the laws of this state to be
published in a newspaper of general circulation shall have force or
effect unless published in a legal newspaper of the county in this
state. Legal newspapers shall be either:
A. PERIODICAL PERMIT NEWSPAPER: A legal newspaper of the
county is any newspaper of general circulation which, during a
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period of one hundred four (104) consecutive weeks immediately prior
to the first publication of such notice, advertisement, or
publication:
1. has maintained a paid general subscription circulation in
the county; and
2. has been admitted to the United States mails as paid second-
class general periodical mail matter; and
3. has been continuously and uni nterruptedly published in the
county.
B. NONPERIODICAL PERMIT NEWSPAPER : A legal newspaper of the
county is any newspaper of general circulation which, during a
period of one hundred four (104) consecutive weeks immediately prior
to the first publication of such notice, advertisement , or
publication:
1. Has published a printed issue at least once per week;
2. Continuously offers paid subscriptions to the general public
and maintains a minimum of two hundred (200) paid print
subscriptions to individual v erified subscribers, and delivers such
subscriptions by verified mail or carrier delivery to paid
individual subscribers. The cost of a paid subscription shall
exceed a nominal fee including the cost of printing and
distribution;
3. Has averaged a minimu m of twenty-five percent (25%) news
content over the preceding twelve-month period, and news content
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shall be content generally found in local news publications, such as
general local news relevant to the area the notice is intended to
serve, reports of lo cal events and persons, local government
proceedings, feature stories, g raphics, photographs, letters to the
editor or editorial pages. No nonperiodical newspaper shall
knowingly carry advertisements which are prohibited by state or
federal law;
4. Has maintained a known office of publication in the county
where the business of the publication can be transacted with the
public and where the public can personally interact or meet with
local staff of the publication;
5. Has published in the newspaper an an nual statement of
ownership, management, and circulation in the issue da ted nearest
October 1 of each year, which shall contain the same information as
the United States Postal Form 3526;
6. Has conducted an independent audit by a firm recognized by
the newspaper industry to verify accuracy of circulation,
subscriptions, and content, to confirm the newspaper has met the
applicable requirements of this section. Such audit shall be
conducted prior to attaining status as a legal newspaper, and
annually each year thereafter. Each audit shall be available at no
charge to any person upon written request within five (5) business
days of the request, or alternatively shall be made available
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continuously on the newspaper website, if the newspaper has a
website;
7. Has declared the county of publication which the newspaper
shall serve when attaining status as a legal newspaper, and such
county of publication cannot be moved from one county to another
county after such declaration without meeting the requirements of
this section again in full for one hundred four (104) consecutive
weeks;
8. Prior to attaining status as a newspaper qualified to carry
legal notices, the nonperiodical newspaper shall petition the
district court in the jurisdiction in which the newspape r seeks to
be authorized as a legal newspaper and provide evidence the
newspaper has met the requirements required to be designated as a
legal newspaper of general circulation in the county. Prior to
filing the petition, the nonperiodical newspaper shall publish a
notice of intent pursuant to this section, in a newspaper of g eneral
circulation in the county, or an adjoining county if no newspaper
exists in the county. The court shall review the petition and
determine whether the applicant has fully met th e qualifications and
publication time requirements of Section 106 of Title 25 of the
Oklahoma Statutes as applicable, and grant or deny authority for the
nonperiodical newspaper to accept legal notice as qualified legal
newspaper of general circulation of the county. The court may
revoke such authority if the newspaper is det ermined by the court to
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have failed to continue to meet the qualifications of Section 106 of
Title 25 of the Oklahoma Statutes as applicable;
9. Publish on the front page the newspape r title, and publish
an identification box in easily read type located in the first five
pages in each issue, which shall include the title of the newspaper,
known office of publication address including street number and
name, city, ZIP code, county of publication, telephone contact
information, email address for the publicat ion, a statement of
frequency, information on how to subscribe to the newspaper, the
date of publication and volume and issue number of each publication.
The date, volume, and issue n umber may be omitted from the
identification box if such information appears on the front page of
the newspaper. The identification box may contain any other
material the publisher determines will inform the general public of
the newspaper policies or dea dlines.
C. All periodical permit and nonperiodical permit newspapers as
defined in subsections A and B of this section also shall:
1. Register and maintain registration of the ownership of the
newspaper with the Oklahoma Secretary of State;
2. Publish all legal notices on the newspaper website in a
timely manner, if the newspaper maintains a website, in front of any
paywall or paid access so the public may freely access the notices
published. Notices posted on the publication website shall, at
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minimum, be maintained for public viewing for the time period the
notice is required to be run in the printed newspaper;
3. When notice by publication in a newspaper is required by
law, order of court, or other means, the newspaper publishing the
notice shall in a timely manner, at no additional cost to the person
or official desiring the publication, cause the notice to be placed
on the statewide website established and maintained as a joint
venture of a majority of Oklahoma newspapers qualified as legal
newspapers under the laws of this state;
4. Shall publish a promotional ad in ea ch issue in which public
notices appear promoting notices in the local newspaper, on the
local newspaper website, if any, and on the statewide website
described in paragraph 3 of this subsection;
5. Archive printed issues containing legal notices for a
minimum of three (3) years;
6. Shall be independent of government and shall not be owned,
controlled, funded, or subsidized by any political party, state
agency, political subdivision, fraternal or religious organization,
or other party which is not indepen dent of government.
D. A legal newspaper of the county is qualified to be a legal
newspaper in only one county in which the periodical permit
newspaper original entry periodicals mail permit was applied for and
held, or in the county in which the nonperiodical permit newspaper
declared when beginning as a nonperiodical permit newspaper under
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subsection B of this section. Each legal newspaper must annually
declare in the published stat ement of ownership, management and
circulation on October 1 if they are publishing as a periodical
permit or nonperiodical permit newspaper for the succeeding year, as
defined in this section, and shall continue to be authorized under
that declaration for a period of one (1) year, and cannot change
such declaration until October 1 each year.
E. If there is no legal newspaper in a county, then all legal
notices, advertisements, or publications of any kind required or
provided for by the laws of this state s hall be published in a legal
newspaper in an adjoining county of this st ate, which newspaper has
general circulation in the county or political subdivision in which
such notice is required. If there is no legal newspaper in a
county, a newspaper can be es tablished by meeting the provisions of
this section after a period of fifty -two (52) consecutive and
uninterrupted weeks in a twelve -month period.
F. Nothing in this section shall invalidate the publication of
such legal notices, advertisements, or public ations in a newspaper
which has moved its place of publication from one location in the
county to another location in the same county without breaking the
continuity of its regular issues for the requisite length of time,
or the name of which may have been changed when said change of
location was made as permitted by United States postal laws and
regulations or the laws of the State of Oklahoma .
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G. Failure to issue or publish said newspaper for a period of
fourteen (14) days twenty-one (21) consecutive day s, beginning the
day after the last publication, due to fire, accident, natural
disaster, national health emergency declared by the state or federal
government or other unforeseen cause, or by reason of the pendency
of mortgage foreclosure, attachment, exe cution, or other legal
proceedings against the type equipment, presses, or other personal
property used by the newspaper, shall not be deemed a failure to
maintain continuous and consecutive publication as required by the
provisions of this section, nor sh all said failure invalidate the
publication of a notice otherwise valid. Failure to issue or
publish a newspaper qualified to publish legal notices,
advertisements, or publications of any kind, for a period totaling
not more than fourteen (14) consecutive days during a calendar year
shall not be deemed a failure to maintain continuous and consecutive
publication as required by the provisions of this section, nor shall
said failure invalidate the publication of a notice otherwise valid.
H. A newspaper is p ermitted to publish fifty (50) of the
preceding fifty-two (52) weeks over the immediately previous twelve -
month period, and failure to issue or publish a newspaper under this
publication schedule shall not be deemed a failure to maintain
continuous and consecutive publication as required by the provisions
of this section, nor shall said failure invalidate the publication
of a notice otherwise valid.
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SECTION 2. This act shall become effective November 1, 2025.
COMMITTEE REPORT BY: COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS AND INSURANCE
April 17, 2025 - DO PASS