# Title 46 — Printing Laws

## Chapter 46-05 — Newspapers

### § 46-05-01. Newspapers qualified to do legal printing - File copies with state historical

society - Publishing notices in adjoining county.
1. As used in this section:
a. "E-edition" means a digital facsimile of a newspaper print edition which is
substantially the same in both format and content as the print edition.
b. "Publish" means the dissemination in the print edition of a qualified newspaper or
in the newspaper's e-edition if it has one, or in both.
2. Before a newspaper in this state is qualified to publish a legal notice or a matter
required by law to be printed or published in a newspaper in the state, or any public
notice for a political subdivision within this state, the newspaper must:
a. Have been established in a regular and continuous circulation of at least one
year, with a bona fide subscription list of at least one hundred fifty regular
subscribers;
b. Be nonsectarian and printed in English; and
c. Have been admitted to the United States mails and have complied with the
requirements of the federal laws governing periodicals mailing privileges for at
least one year.
3. The owner or publisher of each legal newspaper shall send to the state historical
society, to the address designated by the director, one copy of each print and e-edition
issue of the newspaper. In a county in which no newspaper is published, a notice
required by law to be published may be published in a newspaper published in an
adjoining county and having a general circulation in the county.
### § 46-05-02. Publisher to file affidavit with county auditor.

Repealed by S.L. 2003, ch. 392, § 5.
### § 46-05-03. Legal notices - Fees.

To effect uniformity, the office of management and budget may compute a standard price on
those legal notices which are widely published such as ballots, insurance statements, and
official proclamations. All newspapers must use the rates, type size, and column width as shown
on its legal notice rate certification issued by the office of management and budget.
Certifications must be issued within fifteen days after samples are submitted, or as soon
thereafter as practicable.
The office of management and budget shall biennially review and adjust rates to reflect
changes in economic conditions within the newspaper industry and the general economy, and
those adjustments become effective on each July first following the review. These biennial
changes may be percentage increases or decreases in the base rates, and they may
incorporate revisions in the base rate structure. Whenever the office of management and budget
considers an adjustment in the legal publication rates contained herein, it shall consult with
representatives of the daily and weekly newspaper industry of the state and with representatives
of state and local units of government.
### § 46-05-04. Rates and methods of computation applicable to legal notices and

publications generally.
The rates or compensation and the method of calculating the same provided for in section
board of county commissioners, reports, election returns, and other publications and reports are
required and allowed by law.
### § 46-05-05. Rates for political announcements - Labeling political matter - Penalty for

violation.
Repealed by S.L. 2001, ch. 203, § 9.

### § 46-05-06. Legal notices - Penalty for violations in printing.

Any person, association, corporation, or limited liability company publishing any legal notice
or doing any public printing contrary to the provisions of this chapter shall be liable to a fine of
not less than twenty-five dollars nor more than two hundred dollars and to a forfeiture of all pay
for any such printing.
### § 46-05-07. Publications of county meetings and notices.

In any county in which two or more newspapers having the qualifications prescribed in
section 46-05-01 are published, the board of county commissioners, by resolution, may provide
for publication of proceedings of the board of county commissioners and of notices and
publications required by law to be published by any county officer in one or more of such
newspapers in addition to the official publication in the official newspaper of the county. The
provisions of section 46-05-03 do not apply to such additional publications.
### § 46-05-08. Contents of real property notices.

Repealed by S.L. 1975, ch. 420, § 1.
### § 46-05-09. Publication of legal notices on website.

1. When a legal notice is required by law to be published in a newspaper, the newspaper
also shall publish the notice on a statewide legal notices website maintained by the
North Dakota newspaper association and on the newspaper's website in a location
open and free to the public, if the newspaper maintains a website, at no additional cost
to the entity placing the notice.
2. A state agency may request immediate publication of a notice on the North Dakota
newspaper association public notice website and the North Dakota newspaper
association must provide an affidavit of the posting. The posting is considered legal
notification if a newspaper fails to publish the legal notice in the newspaper.
3. If an insubstantial error in the notice occurs as a result of placement on the website
and the error is the fault of the newspaper, the error does not affect the validity and
effectiveness of the notice.
4. A notice required by law which is published on a statewide legal notices website
maintained by the North Dakota newspaper association or on a website maintained by
the proper governmental unit, fulfills the publication requirement if a newspaper fails to
publish the notice required by law in the newspaper.
