1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to qualified newspapers; modifying 
  1.3             requirements for qualified newspapers serving smaller 
  1.4             local public corporations; amending Minnesota Statutes 
  1.5             2000, section 331A.02, subdivision 1. 
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 331A.02, 
  1.8   subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  1.9      Subdivision 1.  [QUALIFICATION.] No newspaper in this state 
  1.10  shall be entitled to any compensation or fee for publishing any 
  1.11  public notice unless it is qualified as a medium of official and 
  1.12  legal publication.  A newspaper that is not qualified must 
  1.13  inform a public body that presents a public notice for 
  1.14  publication that it is not qualified.  To be qualified as a 
  1.15  medium of official and legal publication, a newspaper shall:  
  1.16     (a) be printed in the English language in newspaper format 
  1.17  and in column and sheet form equivalent in printed space to at 
  1.18  least 1,000 square inches, or 800 square inches if the local 
  1.19  public corporation the newspaper purports to serve has a 
  1.20  population of under 1,300 and the newspaper does not receive a 
  1.21  public subsidy; 
  1.22     (b) if a daily, be distributed at least five days each 
  1.23  week, or if not a daily, be distributed at least once each week, 
  1.24  for 50 weeks each year.  In any week in which a legal holiday is 
  1.25  included, not more than four issues of a daily paper are 
  2.1   necessary; 
  2.2      (c) in at least half of its issues each year, have no more 
  2.3   than 75 percent of its printed space comprised of advertising 
  2.4   material and paid public notices.  In all of its issues each 
  2.5   year, have 25 percent, if published more often than weekly, or 
  2.6   50 percent, if weekly, of its news columns devoted to news of 
  2.7   local interest to the community which it purports to serve.  Not 
  2.8   more than 25 percent of its total nonadvertising column inches 
  2.9   in any issue may wholly duplicate any other publication unless 
  2.10  the duplicated material is from recognized general news 
  2.11  services; 
  2.12     (d) be circulated in the local public corporation which it 
  2.13  purports to serve, and either have at least 500 copies regularly 
  2.14  delivered to paying subscribers, or 250 copies delivered to 
  2.15  paying subscribers if the local public corporation it purports 
  2.16  to serve has a population of under 1,300, or have at least 500 
  2.17  copies regularly distributed without charge to local residents, 
  2.18  or 250 copies distributed without charge to local residents if 
  2.19  the local public corporation it purports to serve has a 
  2.20  population of under 1,300; 
  2.21     (e) have its known office of issue established in either 
  2.22  the county in which lies, in whole or in part, the local public 
  2.23  corporation which the newspaper purports to serve, or in an 
  2.24  adjoining county; 
  2.25     (f) file a copy of each issue immediately with the state 
  2.26  historical society; 
  2.27     (g) be made available at single or subscription prices to 
  2.28  any person, corporation, partnership, or other unincorporated 
  2.29  association requesting the newspaper and making the applicable 
  2.30  payment, or be distributed without charge to local residents; 
  2.31     (h) have complied with all the foregoing conditions of this 
  2.32  subdivision for at least one year immediately preceding the date 
  2.33  of the notice publication; 
  2.34     (i) between September 1 and December 31 of each year 
  2.35  publish a sworn United States Post Office periodicals-class 
  2.36  statement of ownership and circulation or a statement of 
  3.1   ownership and circulation verified by a recognized independent 
  3.2   circulation auditing agency covering a period of at least one 
  3.3   year ending no earlier than the June 30 preceding the 
  3.4   publication deadline.  When publication occurs after December 31 
  3.5   and before July 1, qualification shall be effective from the 
  3.6   date of the filing described in paragraph (j) through December 
  3.7   31 of that year; and 
  3.8      (j) after publication, submit to the secretary of state by 
  3.9   December 31 a filing containing the newspaper's name, address of 
  3.10  its known office of issue, telephone number, and a statement 
  3.11  that it has complied with all of the requirements of this 
  3.12  section.  The filing must be accompanied by a fee of $25.  The 
  3.13  secretary of state shall make available for public inspection a 
  3.14  list of newspapers that have filed.  Acceptance of a filing does 
  3.15  not constitute a guarantee by the state that any other 
  3.16  qualification has been met.