Tennessee House Bill HB0773

Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 2/4/25
• Refer: 2/12/25
• Refer: 3/12/25
• Refer: 4/9/25
• Refer: 4/17/25
• Engrossed: 4/21/25
• Enrolled: 4/28/25
• Passed: 5/21/25
• Chaptered: 5/27/25

Caption

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 1, Chapter 3, relative to legal notices.

Summary

HB0773 amends Tennessee’s legal-notice statutes to allow certain legal notices to be published on a qualifying website instead of, or in addition to, traditional newspaper publication. The bill defines requirements for the website used for publication, including that it must be free to access without a subscription and must be a separate website owned by an entity other than the newspaper of general circulation. It also sets pricing rules for website publishers, requiring charges to be calculated by the word and to be comparable to, but not exceed, the publisher’s established advertising rates. The bill further requires the website owner to include an affidavit on the invoice showing the number of days the notice was published online. It expressly excludes certain notices from these website-publication rules, including notices required under foreclosure-related law and sample ballots. The act takes effect July 1, 2025, and amends Tennessee Code Annotated Title 1, Chapter 3, Section 1-3-120.

Impact

HB0773 changes the legal framework for public notices in Tennessee by recognizing online publication as an authorized venue for some notices and by imposing operational and billing standards on website publishers. It affects newspapers of general circulation, independent websites that publish legal notices, and the persons or entities required to pay for those notices, while leaving certain categories of notices outside the new rules. The bill updates state law governing notice publication practices and may shift some notice traffic and revenue from print newspapers to qualifying online platforms.

Sentiment

The bill appears to have been generally favorable and noncontroversial, with strong committee and floor support in both chambers. It advanced through House and Senate committees with large margins and passed final floor votes comfortably, though not unanimously. The voting pattern suggests broad agreement on modernizing legal-notice publication rules, with only limited opposition.

Contention

The main points of contention likely centered on the move away from exclusive newspaper publication toward online legal notices, including concerns about access, transparency, and the effect on newspaper revenue. The bill’s requirement that the website be separate from the newspaper and owned by a different entity suggests an effort to avoid conflicts of interest and preserve competition, which may have been important to supporters and critics alike. The narrower vote counts on final passage indicate some members may have objected to the policy shift or to how the bill balances public access with the interests of print publishers and website operators.