HB 2167: Fees; publications; legal notices; fees; effective date. - Oklahoma

Floor (House) → Floor (Senate) · 5 edits

MODERATE

The Senate version of HB 2167 modifies publication fees for legal notices in Oklahoma, increasing rates for certain notices while reducing fees for tabular matter. The bill also adds requirements for newspapers to post notices on their websites and a statewide portal, and establishes a minimum $25 charge for notices with low calculated costs. These changes aim to balance revenue generation with public access to legal information.

Scope change

The bill's scope remains focused on publication fees and procedures for legal notices, but the Senate version adds specific website posting requirements and modifies fee structures for different types of notices.

FISCAL

Publication fees for non-tabular matter were increased from $0.14/$0.13 per word to $0.22/$0.20 per word, while tabular matter fees were reduced from $0.70/$1.10 per line to $0.65/$1.00 per line.

REQUIREMENT

New requirement for newspapers to publish notices on their websites and a statewide portal, with specific rules about paywalls and access.

Minimum $25 charge established for notices where calculated word/line costs fall below this threshold.

TIMELINE

Effective date changed from unspecified to November 1, 2025.

DEFINITION

Clarification that temporary website outages do not invalidate otherwise valid newspaper publication.

House Committee Substitute → Floor (House) · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill text was reformatted from a Committee Substitute version to a Floor version, with the main substantive change being the addition of a co-sponsor from the Senate (Coleman) to the original House sponsor (Pfeiffer). The legislative content regarding publication fees and requirements remains unchanged.

TECHNICAL

Added Senate co-sponsor (Coleman) to the bill's sponsor list, changing it from single House sponsor to House and Senate sponsors.

Changed the document header from 'House Committee Substitute' to 'House of Representatives - Floor Version' to reflect the bill's progression through the legislative process.

Removed page numbering and formatting artifacts from the original Committee Substitute version that were not part of the actual legislative text.

Enrolled (final version) → Proposed Policy Committee Substitute 1 · 5 edits

MODERATE

This bill substitutes a new version of HB 2167 that reorganizes the structure and amends the title to better reflect its content. The substantive policy provisions regarding publication fees, formatting requirements, and website posting obligations remain largely unchanged from the enrolled version, though some formatting inconsistencies and line numbering errors in the original text have been corrected.

Scope change

The bill's scope and applicability remain unchanged; it continues to regulate legal notice publication fees and requirements for newspapers in Oklahoma.

TECHNICAL

The bill title was amended to include 'defining certain terms used with respect to printing or publication processes' to better reflect the content.

Formatting errors and inconsistent line numbering in the original enrolled version have been corrected in the substitute version.

The bill structure was reorganized from a multi-page enrolled format to a single committee substitute format with standardized line numbering.

New header information including committee amendment details, sponsor information, and legislative session identifiers were added.

Original enrolled bill metadata including passage dates, governor's signature lines, and secretary of state receipt information were removed as this is a committee substitute version.

Introduced → Engrossed · 6 edits · Apr 28, 2025

MODERATE

This bill updates publication fees for legal notices in Oklahoma newspapers, adjusting rates for text and tabular matter, clarifying formatting rules, and adding requirements for online posting of notices. The changes affect how much newspapers charge for publishing legal notices and ensure notices remain accessible online.

Scope change

The bill's scope remains focused on publication fees for legal notices, but now includes mandatory online posting requirements for newspapers that operate websites.

FISCAL

Publication fees for text matter changed from 22 cents/word first insertion to 15 cents/word first insertion, with subsequent insertions adjusted from 20 cents to 14 cents per word.

Publication fees for tabular matter (tables, graphics, maps) increased from 70 cents per line first insertion to $1.10 per line first insertion.

REQUIREMENT

New requirement for newspapers to post notices on their websites without paywalls and upload to a statewide website maintained by a joint venture of Oklahoma newspapers.

Clarified that hyphenation and spacing between words or numeric descriptions is prohibited in notice formatting.

TECHNICAL

Minor formatting and numbering corrections throughout the document, including renumbering of subsections.

TIMELINE

Effective date remains November 1, 2025, with no substantive timeline changes.

Engrossed → Enrolled (final version) · 3 edits · Apr 29, 2025

MINOR

The bill was finalized in enrolled form with minor formatting corrections and reorganization of sections. The substantive policy content remains unchanged from the engrossed version, including fee structures, publication requirements, and effective dates.

TECHNICAL

Formatting and section numbering were corrected throughout the document, including reorganizing subsections from A through F and fixing numbering inconsistencies.

Added standard enrolled bill formatting elements including governor signature lines and secretary of state certification sections.

Removed draft formatting markers and page numbering inconsistencies present in the engrossed version.

Proposed Policy Committee Substitute 1 → House Committee Substitute · 6 edits

MODERATE

This bill revision updates publication fee structures for legal notices in Oklahoma newspapers, clarifies formatting requirements, and adds new provisions for online notice posting. The changes modernize the publication process by requiring newspapers to post notices on their websites and a statewide portal, while adjusting per-word and per-line fees for different types of notices.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded to include digital publication requirements and clarified fee structures for both text and tabular matter (graphics, maps, forms). It also added provisions for online accessibility and statewide notice posting.

REQUIREMENT

Added requirement that newspapers must post legal notices on their websites in front of any paywall or paid access, and upload notices to a statewide website maintained by a joint venture of Oklahoma newspapers.

New requirement prohibiting extra space between words or use of hyphenation to combine words in legal notices, ensuring consistent formatting.

Added provision that if a newspaper fails to publish a notice in the specified issue, they must publish it in a future issue at no charge to the requester.

FISCAL

Updated publication fees: text notices now charge 14 cents per word for first insertion (down from 15 cents), and tabular matter fees were adjusted to 70 cents per line for first insertion (up from 70 cents, but clarified structure).

TIMELINE

Changed effective date from November 1, 2005 to November 1, 2025, and updated the deadline for notice submission to no more than five business days prior to publication.

TECHNICAL

Reorganized and clarified fee structure for tabular matter, including graphics, maps, and forms, with specific rates for first and subsequent insertions.

Fees; publications; legal notices; fees; effective date.

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