Oakdale, Washington County Select 'Newspapers of Record'

Oakdale and Washington County on Tuesday designated their “official newspapers” for 2013 legal publications.

State law requires that certain notices of city and county business be published in local newspapers. It is estimated that placing the legal notices in the newspapers will cost Washington County $30,000 in 2013.

Debate around the topic of mandating governmental entities to publish legal notices in official newspapers—as oppose to publishing legals online on their own websites—has been brewing for years, as this MinnPost article reads: Time for Minnesota Governments to Stop Public-Notice Ads in Newspapers? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below.

Here’s a list of proposals for publication of legal notices in the Stillwater area:

Oakdale

The Oakdale City Council passed a resolution naming the Oakdale-Lake Elmo Review as the “official newspaper” in 2013. It was the only newspaper to submit a bid. 

The Oakdale-Lake Elmo Review proposed a rate of $6.90 per column inch for a one-time publication, and $6 per column inch for subsequent publications.

Washington County

On Tuesday, Washington County agreed to publish a Summary of Proceedings, Delinquent Real Estate notices, the first publication of the Financial Statement, and Legal Notices in Lillie Newspapers; the second publication of the Financial Statement will be published in the Stillwater Gazette.

It is estimated that placing the notices in the newspapers will cost the county $30,000 in 2013.

Washington County also designated the county’s website as the official publication for transportation projects.