Ind. Code § 5-3-1-1 – Cost of advertising; form of legal advertisements; determination of circulation

(a) The cost of all public notice advertising which any elected or appointed public official or governmental agency is required by law to have published, or orders published, for which the compensation to the newspapers, locality newspapers, or qualified publications publishing such advertising is drawn from and is the ultimate obligation of the public treasury of the governmental unit concerned with the advertising shall be charged to and collected from the proper fund of the public treasury and paid over to the newspapers, locality newspapers, or qualified publications publishing such advertising, after proof of publication and claim for payment has been filed.
(b) The basic charges for publishing public notice advertising shall be by the line and shall be computed based on a square of two hundred and fifty (250) ems at the following rates:
1. (1) Before January 1, 1996, three dollars and thirty cents ($3.30) per square for the first insertion in newspapers or qualified publications plus one dollar and sixty-five cents ($1.65) per square for each additional insertion in newspapers, or qualified publications.
2. (2) After December 31, 1995, and before December 31, 2005, a newspaper or qualified publication may, effective January 1 of any year, increase the basic charges by five percent (5%) more than the basic charges that were in effect during the previous year. However, the basic charges for the first insertion of a public notice in a newspaper, or qualified publication may not exceed the lowest classified advertising rate charged to advertisers by the newspaper, or qualified publication for comparable use of the same amount of space for other purposes.
3. (3) After December 31, 2009, and before January 1, 2017, a newspaper or qualified publication may, effective January 1 of any year, increase the basic charges by not more than two and three-quarters percent (2.75%) more than the basic charges that were in effect during the previous year. However, the basic charges for the first insertion of a public notice in a newspaper or qualified publication may not exceed the lowest classified advertising rate charged to advertisers by the newspaper or qualified publication for comparable use of the same amount of space for other purposes and must include all multiple insertion discounts extended to the newspaper's other advertisers.
4. (4) After December 31, 2016, a newspaper, locality newspaper, or qualified publication may, effective January 1 of any year, increase the basic charges by not more than two and three-quarters percent (2.75%) more than the basic charges that were in effect during the previous year. However, the basic charges for the first insertion of a public notice in a newspaper, locality newspaper, or qualified publication may not exceed the lowest classified advertising rate charged to advertisers by the newspaper, locality newspaper, or qualified publication for comparable use of the same amount of space for other purposes and must include all multiple insertion discounts extended to the newspaper's, locality newspaper's, or qualified publication's other advertisers.
  An additional charge of fifty percent (50%) shall be allowed for the publication of all public notice advertising containing rule or tabular work.
(c) All public notice advertisements shall be set in solid type that is at least 7 point type, without any leads or other devices for increasing space. All public notice advertisements shall be headed by not more than two (2) lines, neither of which shall total more than four (4) solid lines of the type in which the body of the advertisement is set. Public notice advertisements may be submitted by an appointed or elected official or a governmental agency to a newspaper, locality newspaper, or qualified publication in electronic form, if the newspaper, locality newspaper, or qualified publication is equipped to accept information in compatible electronic form.
(d) Each newspaper, locality newspaper, or qualified publication publishing public notice advertising shall submit proof of publication and claim for payment in duplicate on each public notice advertisement published. For each additional proof of publication required by a public official, a charge of one dollar ($1) per copy shall be allowed each newspaper, locality newspaper, or qualified publication furnishing proof of publication.
(e) The circulation of a newspaper, locality newspaper, or qualified publication is determined as follows:
1. (1) For a newspaper, by the circulation stated on line 10.C. (Total Paid and/or Requested Circulation of Single Issue Published Nearest to Filing Date) of the Statement of Ownership, Management and Circulation required by 39 U.S.C. 3685 that was filed during the previous year.
2. (2) For a locality newspaper, by a verified affidavit filed with each agency, department, or office of the political subdivision that has public notices the locality newspaper wants to publish. The affidavit must:
  1. (A) be filed with the agency, department, or office of the political subdivision before January 1 of each year; and
  2. (B) attest to the circulation of the locality newspaper for the issue published nearest to October 1 of the previous year, as determined by an independent audit of the locality newspaper performed for the previous year.
3. (3) For a qualified publication, by a verified affidavit filed with each governmental agency that has public notices the qualified publication wants to publish. The affidavit must:
  1. (A) be filed with the governmental agency before January 1 of each year; and
  2. (B) attest to the circulation of the qualified publication for the issue published nearest to October 1 of the previous year.
    Formerly: Acts 1927, c.96, s.1; Acts 1957, c.16, s.1; Acts 1967, c.89, s.1. As amended by Acts 1979, P.L.33, SEC.1; P.L.52-1987, SEC.1; P.L.64-1995, SEC.4; P.L.141-2009, SEC.1; P.L.147-2016, SEC.2.