Committee won’t change definition of legal newspaper

PIERRE — While acknowledging the good work done by the Belle Fourche Beacon to keep local citizens informed, the House Local Government Committee killed a bill Feb. 20 that would have changed the definition of a legal newspaper. The Beacon was seeking the change so it could carry public notices that are currently restricted to legal newspapers. 

Rep. Thomas Brunner, R-Nisland, sponsored HB1241 which struck the pricing requirements for legal newspapers. After the newspaper closed in Belle Fourche, Brunner said, the Belle Fourche Beacon started, distributing the paper for free to all postal patrons. 

Legal notices are placed in the Black Hills Pioneer newspaper in another county. “A lot of people in our county don’t subscribe to that,” Brunner said. 

The Beacon’s publisher, Doug Cole, said he couldn’t join the S.D. Newspaper Association because he didn’t have the proper postal mailing permit. Instead of a periodicals permit, Cole said he uses a bulk mailing permit that allows him to mail to all postal patrons in the county.

If the bill were to be enacted, Cole said, “Every newspaper in the state of South Dakota would have the opportunity” to use that kind of permit.

Enacting HB1241 would put South Dakota law in conflict with federal postal regulations, according to Dave Bordewyk, of the S.D. Newspaper Association. 

“You’re creating a lot of confusion for a lot of folks,” Bordewyk said, noting that a change could confuse city, school and county governments as well as readers who normally check their newspaper for legal notices. 

Under the current law, newspapers provide accountability because they are subject to postal audits, Bordewyk said. 

“No such occurrence exists if you’re giving the paper away,” Bordewyk said. 

Black Hills Pioneer publisher Letitia Lister said her newspaper takes its role in serving Belle Fourche seriously, to the point of adding reporting staff as well as a full-time legal notice clerk. 

“I do not want to see what is defined as a legal newspaper watered down,” Lister said. 

Committee members were hesitant to change state law to accommodate one newspaper. Rep. Lana Greenfield, R-Doland, asked if the change in the law would allow free shopping news publications to publish legal notices.

Bordewyk said it wouldn’t be limited to free shoppers, but coffee shop newsletters would be eligible as well. 

“It’s not just Mr. Cole’s publication,” Bordewyk said. “I don’t know that you want to go down that road.”

Rep. Doug Barthel, R-Sioux Falls, said he was sympathetic to the situation in Belle Fourche, but he didn’t want to see legal notices in free publications. 

When a free publication shows up on his driveway, Barthel said, “It’s in my hand as long as it takes to get to the recycle bin.”

A motion to approve the bill failed on a 3-9 vote. A motion to send the bill to the 41st day of the legislative session, a tactic that kills legislation, was approved on a 9-3 vote.