Did Woodruff County have a qualifying newspaper for statutory notices after its last printed newspaper ceased circulation?
Apply this to your situation
This page answers the general question as of 2022. Ask about yours and see what current Arkansas law means for your facts, with citations you can check.
Plain-English summary
Senator Ronald Caldwell asked whether Woodruff County had a newspaper of general circulation or a legal newspaper for required public notices. The request stated that the county lost its last printed newspaper in December 2020 and that another Arkansas newspaper was available there only online. On those facts, the AG concluded that Woodruff County had neither kind of qualifying newspaper.
The request also asked whether online newspapers could satisfy publication requirements and whether a county website could serve as a public posting location. The AG did not answer either question in this letter. She referred the requester to an enclosed copy of Opinion 2021-065, where she said she had addressed them.
The request quoted two statutory alternatives when no qualifying newspaper exists. Ark. Code Ann. § 14-14-104(b) allows county notices to be posted in three public places designated by ordinance. For the legal notices described in the request, § 16-3-101 provides for five written notices in the county's most public places. The AG's finding was specific to the Woodruff County facts presented in 2022.
Currency note
The finding about Woodruff County depends on the newspaper circulation reported to the AG in 2022. Check current circulation and the current notice statutes before relying on it for a later notice.
What this means for you
If you handle notices in Woodruff County
For the facts reported in this opinion, the AG found no qualifying newspaper. Check which publication statute governs a particular notice and its posting alternative. The opinion does not designate any physical location or approve a county website as one of those places.
If you advise another county
This letter does not find that every county without a local print newspaper qualifies for the posting alternatives. Its conclusion rests on the facts supplied about Woodruff County. Review the applicable statute and the current circulation facts for your county.
If you are considering online publication or website posting
The AG referred those questions to Opinion 2021-065. This letter contains no ruling that an online paper qualifies or that a county website may be designated as a public place.
Common questions
What did the AG decide about Woodruff County?
"[U]nder the facts as you have presented, it is clear that Woodruff County has neither a newspaper of general circulation nor a legal newspaper."
Did the AG approve a county website as a posting place?
No answer appears in this letter. The AG referred that question to Opinion 2021-065.
Did the AG decide whether an online newspaper qualifies?
No answer appears in this letter. That question was also referred to Opinion 2021-065.
Background and statutory framework
The request cited county-notice statutes including § 14-14-104 and legal-notice law at § 16-3-101 et seq. It quoted the three-place and five-place posting alternatives. The AG's response addressed only whether Woodruff County had a qualifying newspaper on the reported facts and referred the remaining questions to an earlier opinion.
Citations
- Ark. Code Ann. § 14-14-104(b) (three-place posting alternative quoted in the request)
- Ark. Code Ann. § 16-3-101 et seq. (five-place posting alternative described in the request)
- Ark. Op. Att'y Gen. 2021-065 (earlier opinion enclosed for online and website questions)
Source
Original opinion text
Best-effort transcription from a scanned PDF. Minor errors may remain — the linked PDF is authoritative.
STATE OF ARKANSAS
THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
LESLIE RUTLEDGE
Opinion No. 2021-067
July 11, 2022
The Honorable Ronald Caldwell
State Senator
120 CR 393
Wynne, AR 72396
Dear Senator Caldwell:
This is in response to your request for an opinion regarding posting of public notices. You have provided the following background information:
A county government must publish required notices in a newspaper of general circulation in the county. See Ark. Code Ann. §§ 14-14-104; 14-14-105; 14-14-905; 14-14-917; 14-16-105; 14-16-106; 14-21-102; 14-22-101; 22-9-203; 26-36-203; 26-37-102; and 26-37-107.
In the absence of a newspaper of general circulation, county officials have a duty to post the required publication in three (3) public places. See Ark. Code Ann. § 14-14-104(b), which provides: "[w]here no newspaper of general circulation exists in a county, publication may be made by posting in three (3) public places which have been designated by ordinance."
Arkansas law also requires legal notices to be published in a legal newspaper of general circulation. These requirements include actions such as property foreclosures and new county ordinances. Ark. Code Ann. § 16-3-101 et seq. provides that if there is no newspaper of general circulation in the county, the publication shall be made by posting five (5) written notices [in] the most public places in the county.
Woodruff County has a population of 7,620. Woodruff County lost its last printed newspaper in December of 2020. Now there are no printed newspapers that circulate in the county. There is a large newspaper in Arkansas, which is online. However, that newspaper is found only online in Woodruff County.
With this background in mind, you have asked the following questions:
1) Whether there is a newspaper of general circulation in Woodruff County for purposes of publications required by counties under Ark. Code §§ 14-14-104; 14-14-105; 14-14-905; 14-14-917; 14-16-105; 14-16-106; 14-21-102; 14-22-101; 22-9-203; 26-36-203; 26-37-102; and 26-37-107?
2) Whether there is a newspaper of general circulation in Woodruff County for purposes of legal notices in court such as required under Ark Code § 16-3-101 et seq.?
3) Can a county official or litigant rely upon online newspapers for required publications under the foregoing laws?
a) Due to the digitization of newspapers online, do online newspaper publications count as circulation of a newspaper of general circulation?
4) Could a county by ordinance identify a county website or county affiliated website as a public location for purposes of posting in public places under Ark Code § 14-14-[104]?
a) Could a county by ordinance identify a county website or county affiliated website as a public location for purposes of posting in public places under Ark Code § 16-3-101 et seq.?
RESPONSE
Regarding questions 3 and 4, I have addressed them in Op. Att'y Gen. 2021-065, a copy of which is enclosed for your convenience. With respect to questions 1 and 2 however, while Opinion 2021-065 did not provide a definitive answer whether the county referenced therein had either a "newspaper of general circulation" or a "legal newspaper" as defined by statute, under the facts as you have presented, it is clear that Woodruff County has neither a newspaper of general circulation nor a legal newspaper.
Sincerely,
LESLIE RUTLEDGE
Attorney General
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