1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to local government; providing an exception 
  1.3             to the priorities for designating a qualified 
  1.4             newspaper; amending Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 
  1.5             331A.04, by adding a subdivision. 
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 331A.04, is 
  1.8   amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  1.9      Subd. 6.  [EXCEPTION TO DESIGNATION PRIORITY.] (a) 
  1.10  Notwithstanding subdivisions 1 to 3, the governing body of a 
  1.11  local public corporation may designate any newspaper for 
  1.12  publication of its official proceedings and public notices, if 
  1.13  the following conditions are met: 
  1.14     (1) the newspaper is a qualified medium of official and 
  1.15  legal publication; 
  1.16     (2) the publisher of the newspaper furnishes a sworn 
  1.17  statement, verified by a recognized independent circulation 
  1.18  auditing agency, covering a period of at least one year ending 
  1.19  no earlier than 60 days before designation of the newspaper, 
  1.20  stating that the newspaper's circulation reaches not fewer than 
  1.21  75 percent of the households within the public corporation; 
  1.22     (3) the newspaper has provided regular coverage of the 
  1.23  proceedings of the governing body of the local public 
  1.24  corporation and will continue to do so; and 
  1.25     (4) the governing body votes unanimously to designate the 
  2.1   newspaper. 
  2.2      (b) If the circulation of a newspaper designated under this 
  2.3   subdivision falls below 75 percent of the households within the 
  2.4   public local corporation at any time within the term of its 
  2.5   designation as official newspaper, its qualification to publish 
  2.6   public notices for the local public corporation terminates.