On June 30, 2025, Governor Murphy signed into law P.L. 2025, c. 72, which significantly modifies New Jersey's statutory framework governing the publication of legal and public notices. The legislation modernizes longstanding notice requirements by transitioning publication away from traditional print newspapers and toward online platforms. The core provisions of the law take effect March 1, 2026, subject to certain transition requirements applicable during calendar year 2026.
What You Need to Know:
- New Jersey's public notice requirements will change on March 1, 2026, shifting many publication requirements away from print newspapers and toward online publication platforms.
- For private parties, such as businesses, individuals, and other non-governmental entities, the law changes only the medium of publication; substantive public notice obligations under the governing statute, including timing and service requirements, remain unchanged and in full force and effect.
- Public entities, such as municipal bodies, land use boards, and state agencies, will generally satisfy legal notice obligations by posting notices on their official websites, subject to new posting, hyperlink, and archiving requirements.
The new law does not eliminate public notice obligations or relax substantive notice requirements imposed by existing statutes or court rules. Instead, it is procedural in nature and primarily addresses the method by which legal notices must be published. Importantly, the statute expressly provides that it does not alter which party is responsible for publishing a particular legal notice; that responsibility continues to be governed by the underlying statute imposing the notice obligation.
Beginning March 1, 2026, when a public entity, such as a municipality, county, land use board, or other governmental authority, is required by law to publish or advertise a legal notice, that requirement will generally be satisfied through posting the notice on the public entity's official internet website. The website must be publicly accessible at no cost and must include a conspicuous hyperlink on the homepage directing users to the entity's legal notices page. Public entities must maintain notices on their websites for at least the minimum period required by law and must also establish an online archive of legal notices. The new law further requires that such archives be operational by July 1, 2026, and that archived notices remain publicly accessible for at least one year.
By contrast, when non-public entities, such as businesses, individuals, and other non-governmental entities, are required to publish or advertise a legal notice, the law provides that publication must be made in an "eligible online news publication." Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 35:3-3(b), an eligible online news publication must satisfy specific statutory criteria designed to ensure public accessibility, reliability, and sufficient audience reach. The required audience reach varies depending on whether the legal notice is required to be published on a municipal-wide, county-wide, or state-wide basis.
What Developers Need to Know:
In the context of land use, where a public notice under the Municipal Land Use Law, N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq. ("MLUL") is required to be published by an applicant, publication in a traditional print newspaper will no longer be sufficient after March 1, 2026. Instead, compliance will require placement of the notice in a qualifying online news publication.
Importantly for land use applicants, while the medium of publication is changing, the substantive notice requirements under the MLUL remain unchanged. Applicants remain responsible for complying with all MLUL notice obligations, including service on property owners within 200 feet, notice timing, and any other statutory or regulatory requirements applicable to the application. Applicants should therefore review and update their notice procedures and publication practices to ensure compliance with the revised publication framework.
From a practical standpoint, applicants should anticipate a period of adjustment as municipalities and land use boards implement new website posting and archiving systems. Applicants should coordinate closely with municipal clerks and board professionals to confirm publication procedures during the transition period and ensure that all required notices are properly published in the correct medium. Failure to comply with the revised publication requirements may expose applications to procedural challenges, notwithstanding compliance with all other substantive MLUL notice obligations.
