Marion County moves legal notices to website

The Marion County Commission meets in the McPherson Governmental Complex in Ocala on Feb. 18, 2025. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette file photo]

Marion County commissioners have agreed to publish county legal notices on the county’s website instead of a local newspaper, a move they say could save money but that also is raising questions about transparency and the cost of reaching residents who can ask the county to mail them the notices.

The change, enabled by a 2023 state law, is intended to “streamline the county’s current process and improve citizen accessibility while also reducing government costs,” said Chief Assistant County Attorney Dana Olesky.

“We budget just over $200,000 a year for legal advertisements,” Olesky said. “We spend anywhere from $50,000 to $75,000. This year will be a little bit more because of the impact ordinance, but you’re looking at $60,000 to legal advertisements.”

The board this week approved an ordinance allowing the move in a 4-1 vote. However, commissioners and members of the public voiced concerns about the potential downsides of moving away from newspaper publication and complying with the remainder of the statute, which would provide service to other government agencies as well as delivery of print notices to those who requested them.

Transparency and public trust

Commission Chair Kathy Bryant questioned how the county would ensure transparency and public trust in the new system.

“What checks and balances are there for the board and for the public to trust that things won’t be changed on that website on a regular basis, or that what’s published is published and it’s all published on time, and that if there was a mistake made, that someone can’t go in there and change that without us knowing?” she asked.

Commissioner Craig Curry, who voted against the measure warned, “Whether we like to admit it or not, I think people in America just naturally have a little bit of distrust about government. And the more we move away from whether it’s transparency or not, I think the perception in the community and across the country is they like a separation between their government and communication and information. It is a built-in check and balance.”

Bryant voiced concern about publishing zoning and land use changes only on the county’s website, but commissioners ultimately approved language that allows for it.

Workflow and fixing mistakes

Olesky explained that the new system could make it easier to correct errors.

“If you realize that there is an error, you can fix it quicker,” she said. “I think that there’s a little bit more oversight when it’s something that we are doing, making sure that we have some checks and balances in the county attorney’s office to make sure that those things are caught. But it would increase the efficiency. It’s not just about the amount of money.”

Commissioners also discussed the impact on workflow.

“It is very cumbersome to have to do a lot of follow up and I think that the efficiency does equal money. It equals time and it allows a staff member to, instead of having to follow up and spend two weeks trying to track down that proof of publication, that they’re able to kind of get it done and get the proof of publication and the agenda item, and it does move things faster,” Olesky said.

Clerk of Court Greg Harrell encouraged the board to bring the service in-house and gave as a reason that the state Legislature allowed counties to use websites for legal notices.

“Print media is changing and in a lot of ways, it’s going away,” he said. “In some areas… there ended up being localities and more rural counties that no longer have local papers.”

Harrell discounted the value of having an independent source attest to what public notices the government served on its people.

There are only three newspapers in Marion County that qualify to publish legal notices online and in print: the “Ocala Star-Banner,” the “Voice of South Marion” and the “Ocala Gazette.”

Cost of adding staff and growing the government

Some officials cautioned that the county could end up spending more if the new system requires additional staff.

“We are going to spend public money to support this endeavor … I don’t know that we’re going to be spending less, because if we hire somebody to do it, we’re taking on an employee with legacy costs and that is going to grow, probably, from one employee to more, more than one employee, as we bring on other entities that we’re having to provide this service for within the county,” Bryant said.

She added, “My only caution, again, is I don’t want this to end up growing a complete department just for notices.”

Mailing costs could outpace newspaper spending

A major unknown is the cost of mailing legal notices to residents who request them, as required by law.

“I haven’t had anybody, I don’t think, be able to estimate how many people with first class mail at 75 cents, I think it is per shot, once that is offered to the public, that we would be required to send notices directly to them by mail,” Curry said. “Is there any way you’ve been able to quantify that? I mean, you don’t know how many subdivisions and how many retirement communities are going to jump on that, and that could be a budget buster.”

As the publisher of the “Ocala Gazette,” I, Jennifer Hunt Murty, the writer of this article, echoed Curry’s concern to the board.

“Right now, your agenda item for business impact is not clear on the cost it’s going to take for staff time,” I stated. “It’s also not clear on the cost of printing and mailing those legal notices to the community members who ask it. I would suggest to you all that that is going to cost you more than you’re spending right now on legal notices with the ‘Star-Banner’.”

Commissioners agreed that the county must closely monitor costs and public engagement as the new system rolls out.

“If it starts to cost more, we go back to what we were doing,” said County Administrator Mounir Bouynes.