Media bashing is quite the sport these days, but your local, legal newspapers serve an awesome role in informing the public about the actions of courts, commissions, councils, and more.
Suppose there is a weekly newspaper serving your Minnesota community. In that case, whether you use it to wrap fish, start fires in the woodstove, or follow local sports, it is likely a qualified legal newspaper. As such, it complies with all of the provisions of MN Statutes, section 331A.02. It is the unsung pillar of public information.
You surely have seen the pages of dense text of legal notices. They’re minutes of city council meetings, bid requests for public works like road construction or park renovations, citizen requests for zoning variances, and probate notices for wills and estates. Counties must publish lists of delinquent property taxes, and businesses must publish an “assumed name” when they operate under a name different from their legal name.
These aren’t just filler—they’re the bedrock of public transparency. For almost two centuries, the revenue they’ve generated for small newspapers has helped publishers run their organizations profitably.
A “legal newspaper” is not just a paper that reports on legal news. It is a designated entity critical for one of our country’s founding principles: public access to government and legal information. Courts and legislatures have determined what information must be published in official newspapers of record, and the timing of when they are published.
To earn a designation as a legal newspaper, the publication must be distributed widely to the public in its designated area. It must be published consistently (e.g., weekly, daily, semi-weekly) for a defined period (e.g., minimum of one year). Often, but not always, office and publication facilities are required to be within the community. It must contain general news and local information, with editorial content and advertising in a 50/50 ratio over time.
Typically, it must be published in English, although exceptions exist for certain official purposes in specific contexts.
The defining factor is that public bodies must formally designate their legal newspaper each year. The so-called newspaper of record must make its status clear in each publication and provide the Minnesota Historical Society with a copy of each issue.
Before the advent of radio, television, the Internet, and other mass media, print newspapers were the most effective and verifiable way to inform the public. They were the pioneers, beating the archaic methods of posting notices on lamp posts, church doors, saloon bulletin boards, or not posting anything at all. Their historical significance cannot be overstated.
Legal systems require a formal means of notifying individuals and entities about legal proceedings when direct notice is impossible or impractical. A public, dated, and widely accessible printed record serves as proof of notification, deterring corruption and ensuring legal fairness. Publishing a notice makes information legally accessible, even if not personally seen. This is known as “constructive notice,” a legal concept that means if information is made available so that a reasonable person would be expected to see it, they are considered to have been notified.
In the digital age, Minnesota law requires legal newspapers with a website to publish public notices on that website.
The print legal notice remains vital for its legal validity, verifiable public record, and accessibility for all citizens, especially those without reliable internet access.
Each year, the number of community newspapers has declined rapidly. The loss of subscribers and advertisers, who have migrated online, has reduced revenue and increased costs for staff, newsprint, and delivery. This trend makes it increasingly difficult for small, local papers to maintain operations. State legislatures nationwide are having ongoing discussions about allowing government websites or online-only publications to serve as the primary legal notice outlet, which means fewer people will have access to public information, and more newspapers will be closing.
Newspapers may seem old-fashioned today, but they are the guardians of local government actions and community activities, from the arts and schools to police reports. They publish obituaries, wedding and birthday announcements, and pictures of the big fish caught last week. More importantly, they are critical components of democratic transparency and the rule of law, serving a function that is difficult to replicate in other media.
Look at the public notice sections in this newspaper each week to see what North Shore local governments, schools, and courts are doing.
