/>iOn June 30, 2025, Governor Murphy signed Senate Bill No. 4654 into law, marking a sweeping reform of the State’s legal notice laws, significantly changing how public notices are published and accessed. Effective March 1, 2026, New Jersey will require that most legal notices be posted online, which is a shift away from traditional print newspapers in favor of government websites and online news platforms.
According to the new law, all public entities, including municipalities, counties, and state agencies, must publish legal notices on their official websites. These websites must be accessible to the public free of charge, and a prominent hyperlink to the legal notices page must be placed on each website’s homepage. In addition, the Secretary of State is tasked with creating a centralized webpage that links to every public entity in the State’s legal notices to further ensure public access. Public entities must also maintain an online archive of their legal notices for at least one year.
Importantly, private parties, such as developers, corporations, and other non-public entities, stand to benefit from new framework. Private parties have legal requirement to post public notices in most land use matters, and in legal proceedings when ordered by Courts or as required by statute. Under the new requirements, non-public entities may publish public notices on a qualifying online news publication . Online publication will likely eliminate the long lead times for print publications that hindered developers and other private parties. The new law does not designate a specific list of qualified news publications, however, any online news publication must meet eligibility criteria, including audience size, geographic reach, free public access, searchable access, and archive notices for at least one year, to qualify under the new requirements.
The legislation, however, does not eliminate the use of traditional media. Until March 1, 2026, legal notices may be published in eligible print newspapers or in accordance with the new online standards. Additionally, public entities must advertise at least twice monthly in an eligible online news publication to inform the public where full legal notices may be viewed online and to provide a link to the Secretary of State’s central portal.
This legislation represents a pivotal change for New Jersey’s notice regime, offering faster publication, greater flexibility, and modernized access for the digital age. However, it also imposes new compliance responsibilities on government bodies and private parties. Public entities should begin reviewing their websites to ensure full compliance by the March 1, 2026, deadline. Likewise, developers and other businesses with legal notice obligations should ensure they identify and utilize online news publications that meet the statutory criteria.
