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sHB5289 / File No. 608 1
House of Representatives
File No. 608
General Assembly
February Session, 2026 (Reprint of File No. 62)
Substitute House Bill No. 5289
As Amended by House Amendment
Schedule "A"
Approved by the Legislative Commissioner
April 13, 2026
AN ACT CONCERNING THE PUBLICATION OF MUNICIPAL LEGAL
NOTICES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 1 -2 of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2026): 2
[Each] (a) (1) Except as provided in subdivision (2) of this subsection, 3
any provision of the general statutes, the special acts or the charter , 4
ordinances or regulations of any [town, city or borough which ] 5
municipality that requires the [insertion of an advertisement ] 6
publication of a legal notice in a daily newspaper shall be construed to 7
permit such [advertisement to be inserted ] publication in a weekly 8
newspaper. [; but this section shall not be construed to reduce or 9
otherwise affect the time required by law for giving such notice.] 10
(2) If a provision described in subdivision (1) of this subsection 11
applies to a municipality, such provision shall be construed to (A) 12
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require the posting of such notice, which notice shall include the date of 13
such posting, in a conspicuous location on the Internet web site of such 14
municipality, and (B) permit such publication on one or more Internet 15
web sites selected by such municipality or in a daily or weekly 16
newspaper, in addition to such posting on the Internet web site of such 17
municipality. If any provision of the general statutes, any special act or 18
any local charter, ordinance or regulation requires a municipality to 19
publish a notice more than once, a municipality may comply with such 20
requirement by posting such notice on the Internet web site of the 21
municipality the number of times and at such intervals as required by 22
such provision. A municipality shall retain a physical copy of each 23
notice posted on such municipality's Internet web site for not less than 24
one year following such posting. Each such physical copy shall be 25
accompanied by an affidavit signed and sworn to by the individual 26
required to post such notice, or such individual's designee, attesting to 27
the date and time such notice was posted. 28
(b) Whenever notice of any action or other proceeding is required to 29
be given by publication in a newspaper, either by statute or order of 30
court, the newspaper selected for that purpose, unless otherwise 31
expressly prescribed, shall be one [having] that has a substantial 32
circulation in the [town] municipality in which at least one of the parties, 33
for whose benefit such notice is given, resides. 34
(c) Nothing in this section shall be construed to reduce or otherwise 35
affect the time required by law for giving such notice. 36
(d) For the purposes of this section, "municipality" means a town, city 37
or borough, consolidated town and city or consolidated town and 38
borough. 39
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2026 1-2
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The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of the members of
the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not
represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any pur pose. In general,
fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst’s professional
knowledge. Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final
products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.
OFA Fiscal Note
State Impact: None
Municipal Impact:
Municipalities Effect FY 27 $ FY 28 $
All Municipalities Savings See Below See Below
Explanation
The bill as amended results in savings for all municipalities
beginning in FY 27 to the extent that municipalities no longer publish
certain notices in daily or weekly newspapers.
House Amendment “A” allows municipalities to publish certain
notices on various internet websites and requires physical copies of
these notices to be stored with a signed and dated affidavit. These
changes do not result in a fiscal impact.
The Out Years
The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would
continue into the future subject to inflation.
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OLR Bill Analysis
sHB 5289 (as amended by House "A")*
AN ACT CONCERNING THE PUBLICATION OF MUNICIPAL LEGAL
NOTICES.
SUMMARY
This bill broadly eliminates the requirement that municipalities
publish legal notices in a newspaper and instead requires municipalities
to post most required legal notices on their websites. Under the bill,
municipalities may opt to also publish a notice on websites they choose
or in a daily or weekly newspaper.
Various existing state and local laws (statutes, special acts, charters,
ordinances, and regulations) currently require municipalities to publish
legal notices in a newspaper (such as notice of a town meeting, tax sale,
or certain land use approvals). The specific requirements for
publication, such as publication deadlines or minimum frequency, vary
under each law.
Specifically, whenever a state or local law requires newspaper
publication, the bill instead requires municipalities to post these notices
conspicuously on their website. The notice must also include the posting
date and the municipality must keep a physical copy of the notice for at
least a year after posting it. The physical copy must be accompanied by
an affidavit from the person required to post the notice, or their
designee, attesting to the posting’s date and time. If a notice must be
published multiple times under a state or local law, the municipality can
comply by posting it to its website the required number of times at the
required intervals. (The bill specifies its provisions do not change
existing state or local laws on publication deadlines or minimum
frequency.)
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The bill only applies to legal notices that must be published by a
municipality pursuant to a state or local law. It does not affect notices
that must be published (1) pursuant to other authority, such as a court
order, or (2) by non-municipal entities or people. (A “municipality” is a
town, city, borough, consolidated town and city , or consolidated town
and borough.)
The bill also makes minor and conforming changes, including
specifically applying the law on determining how to publish municipal
legal notices to notices required by local ordinances and regulations,
rather than only those required by statutes, special acts, and charters, as
current law does.
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2026
*House Amendment “A” adds the provision requiring an affidavit on
the posting’s date and time to be submitted and makes minor clarifying
changes.
COMMITTEE ACTION
Planning and Development Committee
Joint Favorable Substitute
Yea 20 Nay 0 (03/06/2026)