A recent publishing error by the Pickens County Herald that cost taxpayers nearly $2 million has reignited debate over whether a state law requiring public and legal notices to be placed in local newspapers should be abolished.
State Sen. Sam Givhan (R-Huntsville) said on Thursday's broadcast of WVNN's "The Dale Jackson Show" that he was a regular newspaper reader, but times have changed.
"Where I'm sitting right now in my house, I used to, on the morning when I would come back from vacation or something and have, you know, six or seven Huntsville Times sitting around, I had a methodical way. I went through the paper and read it. Well, gosh, that's probably 10 years ago when I had one every day, how long ago that was. But it's not a way to communicate to people. It's not a way to really let people know… "How are you really communicating this information? How are you really giving due process out there and fair notice? I think for state jobs, I mean, how many contractors are going to go, oh, I wonder what is in the newspaper this morning that I can bid on, versus going to a website? They're going to figure that out real quick. Okay, it's not like there's that many contractors around… So, why can't we use a website?"
Givhan mentioned a bill by former State Rep. Andrew Sorrell to end the newspaper requirement that made little progress in the legislature several years ago.
"I guess he ran into a buzzsaw with that. And I kept that bill around my desk for a while, wanted to do something with it and got distracted and didn't," Givhan said.
However, he said the recently costly newspaper error could provide the momentum needed to revive a legislative effort to change the law during the upcoming session.
"This could be the momentum it needs to get it kickstarted. And especially, you know, they can't even get it right all the time, and it costs money. So, you know, that's a possibility."
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