On Monday, lawmakers have a chance to stand up for transparency and ensure that Colorado\u2019s cities, counties and the ever-growing number of special districts continue to put paid legal notices in a publication that the government does not own or control.<\/p>\n
House Bill 1095 is a good piece of legislation<\/a> tarred by a bad amendment that loosens requirements for public notices. Lawmakers should strike down the amendment on the floor of the Colorado House of Representatives, but we hope the bill passes without it.<\/p>\n The legislation proposed by Rep. Larry Don Suckla, a Republican from Cortez, would require newspapers or publications chosen for legal notices to also make those notices available online for free. In other words, paid public notices cannot be put behind a publication\u2019s paywall online, requiring a subscription to read the notice.<\/p>\n The Denver Post and the Colorado Press Association support that simple change, which is proposed as part of Senate Bill 61 as well<\/a>, because we know how critical public notice is to Coloradans. Just last Wednesday, public notices in The Denver Post flagged for three families who had recently lost their homes to foreclosure that the proceeds of that sale exceeded their debt and money was owed to them. If those families don\u2019t claim the proceeds, they will lose thousands of dollars. That notice should absolutely be available in front of a paywall, and many publications, including The Denver Post<\/a>, already meet that standard<\/a>.<\/p>\n