Bills have been submitted to the Mississippi Senate and House of Representatives that would give local government bodies the option to publish their public notices – legal advertisements – on government-operated websites rather than in local newspapers.

We think that is a bad idea for a number of reasons.

While we believe the majority of public servants are doing their best to act in the public good, too often we have seen representatives conduct the public’s business behind closed doors and withholding public information.

The temptation would be too great in some cases to post legal advertisements in obscure portions of websites where the public would not notice.

We think it’s a bad idea for the government to be responsible for having the sole responsibility and control over posting its own public notices.

When a newspaper publishes the notice for print, it signs a sworn affidavit of publication for every public notice published. The print copy becomes a permanent record that can’t be altered as could happen with an internet posting. Public officials would have no proof the public notices were posted on the internet, no tear sheet nor affidavit.

Statewide surveys have shown Mississippi residents read public notices in newspapers. A 2016 survey showed that 7-in-10 state residents read their local newspaper and more than half of all residents recall reading public notices in their local newspaper, according to the Mississippi Press Association. Only 12 percent said they would prefer to read legal ads on the internet.

Mississippi is also behind other states in internet connectivity, especially in rural areas.

According to a 2016 Federal Communications Commission Broadband Progress Report, Mississippi ranked last in the nation in the availability of fixed broadband technology (not including mobile), Mississippi State University reported. Thirty-four percent of the state’s population lacks access to what the FCC considers to be high-speed Internet, MSU reported.

We believe its important to include public notices in a general publication with all types of community information where a general audience will discover them, and we believe it would be a bad idea to make the public search for advertisements they would not know existed.

While some speculate the switch would save money for taxpayers, savings would be lost in the cost of processing, uploading and maintaining a website. Surveys show that publishing public notices in newspapers costs local governments in Mississippi on average less than 1 percent of a local government’s annual budget, according to the Mississippi Press Association.

Local lawmakers considering the bill in committee are Sampson Jackson II, Kemper County, and Jeff Tate, Meridian, of the Senate Technology Committee; Jenifer B. Branning, Philadelphia, of the Senate Accountability-Ethics-Transparency Committee; and Randy Rushing, Decatur, chairman, of the House Municipalities Committee.

We ask you to join us in encouraging our lawmakers to reject these proposed bills.