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.