State considers allowing online posting of government notices

A St. Louis-area state senator has proposed allowing small towns to post financial notices online rather than in newspapers.

Sen. Joan Bray, D-St. Louis County, told the Senate Financial And Governmental Organizations and Elections Committee last week that newspapers aren't the most efficient medium for some local governments to post information, according to a report from Missouri Digital News.

State law currently requires cities to publish government financial reports and candidate announcements in local papers. Bray's bill would allow third- and fourth-class cities – cities with fewer than 30,000 people and 3,000 people, respectively – to post their announcements online.

Bray, a former journalist with papers including the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, said some St. Louis residents don't have access to community papers, and running ads in the Post-Dispatch are too expensive for small governments already strained by the down economy.

Richard Gard, a Missouri Press Association board member, told the committee that allowing governments to post online is "an invitation for mischief," adding that local governments could delay or attempt to hide information.

Gard also said that newspapers offer a permanent archive for government postings, while the constant change of the online environment offers no such protection.

Bray's bill, Senate Bill 756, awaits a Senate committee vote.