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                    ENGROSSED SENATE BILL 5888

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State of Washington      57th Legislature     2001 Regular Session

By Senators Gardner, Spanel and Honeyford

Read first time 02/07/2001.  Referred to Committee on State & Local Government.

Revising the qualifications of a legal newspaper.

    AN ACT Relating to the qualifications of a legal newspaper; amending RCW 65.16.020; and declaring an emergency.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

    Sec. 1.  RCW 65.16.020 and 1961 c 279 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

    The qualifications of a legal newspaper are that such newspaper shall have been published regularly, at least once a week, in the English language, as a newspaper of general circulation, in the city or town where the same is published at the time of application for approval, for at least six months prior to the date of such application; shall be compiled either in whole or in part in an office maintained at the place of publication; shall contain news of general interest as contrasted with news of interest primarily to an organization, group or class; shall have a policy to print law enforcement notifications for level III sex and kidnapping offenders residing in the paper's county of publication; and shall hold a ((second class mailing permit)) periodical class or standard class mailing permit:  PROVIDED, That a newspaper holding a standard class mailing permit has printed legal notices of the federal government for a period of at least two years prior to application, is distributed by the United States postal service to at least twenty percent of households within its primary circulation area, and is published within fifteen miles of an international border:  PROVIDED, That in case of the consolidation of two or more newspapers, such consolidated newspaper shall be considered as qualified if either or any of the papers so consolidated would be a qualified newspaper at the date of such legal publication, had not such consolidation taken place:  PROVIDED, That this section shall not disqualify as a legal newspaper any publication which, prior to June 8, 1961, was adjudged a legal newspaper, so long as it continues to meet the requirements under which it qualified.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.  This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and takes effect immediately.

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