Senate Bill No. 407
(By Senators Wooton, Tomblin, Mr. President, and
Plymale)
[Introduced February 17, 1995; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary; and then to the
Committee on Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section three, article three, chapter
fifty-nine of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to newspapers and
legal advertisements; rates which a qualified newspaper may
charge for legal advertising; amount of rate increases
allowed in a twelve-month period; notice of legal
advertising rates; and effective date of rates.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section three, article three, chapter fifty-nine of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. NEWSPAPERS AND LEGAL ADVERTISEMENTS.
§59-3-3. Rates for legal advertisements; computation;
filing
affidavits with secretary of state.
(a) The rates which a publisher or proprietor of a qualified
newspaper in West Virginia may charge and receive for a single or
first publication of any legal advertisement set solid shall
depend upon the bona fide circulation of such newspaper, as
follows:
(1) Four cents per word if the qualified newspaper has
reinstituted publication within the limits prescribed by
subdivision (1), subsection (b), section one of this article,
less than two years immediately preceding the date on which a
legal advertisement is delivered to the newspaper for publication
and has a bona fide circulation of less than one thousand.
(2) Two cents per word if the qualified newspaper has a bona
fide circulation of one thousand or less, except as provided in
subdivision (1) subsection (a) of this section;
(3) Five cents per word if the qualified newspaper has a
bona fide circulation of one thousand to ten thousand;
(4) Six and one-fourth cents per word if the qualified
newspaper has a bona fide circulation of more than ten thousand but less than forty thousand; or
(5) Seven and one-fourth cents per word if the qualified
newspaper has a bona fide circulation of forty thousand or more.
(b) In computing the number of words in a legal
advertisement, not set solid, the basis shall be upon the size of
type in which legal advertising is set by the qualified newspaper
making the publication, and shall be computed at the legal rate
as though the matter was solid type, that is to say, on the basis
of eighty-four words to the single column inch in six point type,
and fifty-four words to the single column inch in eight point
type, and any other size type in proportion.
(c) In determining the cost of a legal advertisement which
is to appear more than once in the same qualified newspaper, the
cost for the first publication shall be computed as specified in
subsections (a) and (b) of this section, and the cost of the
second and each subsequent publication shall be seventy-five
percent of the cost of the first publication computed as
aforesaid.
(a) The rates a qualified newspaper may charge for legal
advertising shall be no higher than the rate the qualified newspaper charges local business clients for the same volume of
classified line advertising: Provided, That no newspaper may
increase its legal advertising rates by more than twenty percent
in any twelve-month period. Beginning in the year, one thousand
nine hundred ninety-five, the publisher or proprietor of each
qualified newspaper by the first day of April of each year shall
notify the clerk of the county commission and the board of
education of the county in which the qualified newspaper is
published of the applicable rate for publishing legal
advertisements in the qualified newspaper during the ensuing
fiscal year. If the qualified newspaper is published in a
municipality, the publisher or proprietor of the qualified
newspaper shall at the same time also furnish the same
notification to the clerk or recorder of the municipality.
(d)(b) The rates provided for in this section may be charged
on and after the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred
eighty-four ninety-five. Between the effective date of this
section and the said Prior to the first day of July, one thousand
nine hundred eighty-four ninety-five, the rates for publishing legal advertisements shall be those in effect immediately prior
to the effective date of this section. The average bona fide
circulation stated by each qualified newspaper in the statement
filed by such newspaper with the United States post office
department in November, one thousand nine hundred eighty-three,
shall control the rate circulation classification of such
qualified newspaper for the period from the first day of July,
one thousand nine hundred eighty- four, until the first day of
July, one thousand nine hundred eighty-five. On or before the
first day of November, one thousand nine hundred eighty-four, the
publisher or proprietor of each newspaper desiring to publish any
legal advertisement during the ensuing fiscal year shall file
with the secretary of state an affidavit stating the average bona
fide circulation of such newspaper during the preceding calendar
year, and sufficient facts shall be set forth in the affidavit to
show whether such newspaper is a qualified newspaper. The
average bona fide circulation stated in such affidavit by each
qualified newspaper shall control the rate circulation
classification of such qualified newspaper for the ensuing fiscal
year, beginning on the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred eighty-five. On or before the first day of November, one
thousand nine hundred ninety-five, and each succeeding year, the
publisher or proprietor of each newspaper desiring to publish any
legal advertisement during the ensuing fiscal year shall file an
affidavit as aforesaid on or before the first day of November of
each succeeding year, and such affidavit shall control the rate
circulation classification of such newspaper, if it is a
qualified newspaper, for the ensuing fiscal year with the
secretary of state setting forth sufficient information for the
secretary of state to determine that the newspaper meets the
qualifications set forth in section one of this article for the
newspaper to be a qualified newspaper. Any qualified newspaper,
for which the required affidavit is not filed on or before the
first day of March November of any calendar year after the year
one thousand nine hundred eighty-five shall be conclusively
presumed to have for the ensuing fiscal year a bona fide
circulation of less than one thousand. At the time a publisher
or proprietor of a qualified newspaper files an affidavit with
the secretary of state, as aforesaid, such publisher or
proprietor shall notify the clerk of the county commission and the board of education of the county in which such qualified
newspaper is published of the circulation classification of such
qualified newspaper and of the applicable rate for publishing
legal advertisements in such qualified newspaper during the
ensuing fiscal year. If the qualified newspaper is published in
a municipality, the publisher or proprietor shall at the same
time also furnish the same notification to the clerk or recorder
of such municipality ninety-four, shall charge no more than two
cents per word for any legal advertisement published during the
ensuing fiscal year.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide that a
qualified newspaper may not charge rates for legal advertising in
excess of that which it charges local business clients for the
same volume of classified line advertising. Under current law,
the amount which a qualified newspaper may charge is based upon
the bona fide circulation of the qualified newspaper.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.