AN ACT relating to public notices.
HB386 revises Kentucky’s public notice and bidding laws to increase the dollar threshold for certain local government purchases that require newspaper advertisement or alternative bid publication. Under the bill, cities, counties, districts, and certain local officials generally would not need to advertise bids for materials, supplies, equipment, or nonprofessional services unless the expenditure exceeds $60,000, up from $40,000. The bill preserves existing exceptions for emergencies, intergovernmental transfers, school district purchasing from approved contracts or lower-priced cooperative bids, wholesale electric power purchases by municipal utilities, and purchases made under KRS 82.084.
The bill also expands and modernizes the alternative publication process for legal notices by allowing local governments to satisfy newspaper publication requirements through online posting on a notice website. It defines “local government” broadly and sets detailed requirements for the website posting, including public accessibility, homepage prominence, retention periods, affidavit documentation, and a limited newspaper or digital-newspaper notice directing the public to the online posting. The bill states that failure to publish the newspaper notice does not void the underlying local government action, though violations of the alternative posting requirements remain subject to penalties.
HB386 would amend KRS 424.260 and KRS 424.145, changing both procurement notice thresholds and the method by which local governments may publish required legal notices. It would raise the bid-advertisement threshold from $40,000 to $60,000 for specified local government contracts and authorize online notice websites as an alternative to traditional newspaper publication for many statutory notice requirements. The bill would affect cities, counties, school districts, special districts, and other local governmental entities, as well as vendors and members of the public who rely on public notices for bidding opportunities, ordinances, budgets, audits, and other legal actions.
Based on the bill text and the absence of recorded committee discussion or votes in the provided materials, the measure appears to be a procedural modernization bill rather than a highly partisan or controversial policy change. Its structure suggests support for reducing administrative burden and updating notice practices to reflect internet-based publication. At the same time, the inclusion of a limited newspaper notice and detailed website requirements indicates an effort to balance modernization with continued public access and transparency.
The main points of potential contention are likely to be the shift away from exclusive newspaper publication and the higher bid threshold. Newspapers and advocates for traditional public notice systems may object that online-only or online-first publication could reduce readership and advertising revenue, or make notices less visible to some residents. By contrast, local governments and procurement officials may support the bill for lowering costs and simplifying compliance. Another possible issue is whether the online notice system provides adequate access for people without reliable internet access, which the bill addresses in part by requiring a conspicuous assistance statement and a limited newspaper notice.