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2021 Florida Statutes (Including 2021B Session)

Title VI CIVIL PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE
Chapter 50 LEGAL AND OFFICIAL ADVERTISEMENTS Entire Chapter
SECTION 011
Publication of legal notices.
F.S. 50.011
50.011 Publication of legal notices.—Whenever by statute an official or legal advertisement or a publication, or notice in a newspaper has been or is directed or permitted in the nature of or in lieu of process, or for constructive service, or in initiating, assuming, reviewing, exercising or enforcing jurisdiction or power, or for any purpose, including all legal notices and advertisements of sheriffs and tax collectors, the contemporaneous and continuous intent and meaning of such legislation all and singular, existing or repealed, is and has been and is hereby declared to be and to have been, and the rule of interpretation is and has been the following:
(1) A publication in a newspaper that meets all of the following:
(a) Is printed and published periodically at least once a week.
(b) Contains at least 25 percent of its words in the English language.
(c) Satisfies one of the following criteria:
1. Has an audience consisting of at least 10 percent of the households in the county or municipality, as determined by the most recent decennial census, where the legal or public notice is being published or posted, by calculating the combination of the total of the number of print copies reflecting the day of highest print circulation, of which at least 25 percent of such print copies must be delivered to individuals’ home or business addresses, as certified biennially by a certified independent third-party auditor, and the total number of online unique monthly visitors to the newspaper’s website from within the state, as measured by industry-accepted website analytics software. The newspaper must also be sold, or otherwise available to the public, at no less than 10 publicly accessible outlets. For legal and public notices published by nongovernmental entities, the newspaper’s audience in the county or municipality where the project, property, or other primary subject of the notice is located must meet the 10 percent threshold.
2. Holds a periodicals permit as of March 1, 2021, and accepts legal notices for publication as of that date. Any such newspaper may continue to publish legal notices through December 31, 2023, so long as the newspaper continues to meet the requirements set forth in s. 21, chapter 99-2, Laws of Florida, and continues to hold a periodicals permit. Beginning January 1, 2024, and thereafter, any such newspaper must meet the criteria under subparagraph 1.
3. For newspapers publishing legal notices in a fiscally constrained county, holds a periodicals permit and meets all other requirements of this chapter. A newspaper qualified under this subparagraph does not need to meet the criteria under subparagraph 1. so long as the newspaper continues to hold a periodicals permit. For purposes of this subparagraph, the term “fiscally constrained county” means a county within a rural area of opportunity designated by the Governor pursuant to s. 288.0656 or a county for which the value of a mill will raise no more than $5 million in revenue, based on the certified taxable value certified pursuant to s. 1011.62(4)(a)1.a., from the previous July 1.
(d) Is available to the public generally for the publication of official or other notices with no more than 75 percent of its content dedicated toward advertising, as measured in half of the newspaper’s issues that are published during any 12-month period, and customarily containing information of a public character or of interest or of value to the residents or owners of property in the county where published, or of interest or of value to the general public.
(e) Continually publishes in a prominent manner the name, street address, phone number, website URL of the newspaper’s approved print auditor, the newspaper’s most recent statement of ownership, and a statement of the auditor certifying the veracity of the newspaper’s print distribution and the number of the newspaper’s website’s monthly unique visitors, or the newspaper’s periodicals permit, if applicable, within the first five pages of the print edition and the bottom portion of the homepage of the newspaper’s website.
(2) Internet publication for governmental agency notices under s. 50.0211(1)(b) on the website of any newspaper in the county to which the legal notice pertains and on the statewide legal notice website as provided in s. 50.0211(5). A newspaper is deemed to be a newspaper in the county to which the legal notice pertains if it satisfies the criteria in subsection (1).
History.—s. 2, ch. 3022, 1877; RS 1296; GS 1727; s. 1, ch. 5610, 1907; RGS 2942; s. 1, ch. 12104, 1927; CGL 4666, 4901; s. 1, ch. 63-387; s. 6, ch. 67-254; s. 21, ch. 99-2; s. 1, ch. 2021-17.
Note.—Former s. 49.01.