Oklahoma law sets requirements for newspapers that publish legal notices

Newspapers must meet one of two sets of requirements to carry legally required notices. These rules cover Oklahoma newspapers seeking authority to publish legally required notices. The two routes depend on whether the newspaper holds a postal permit for mailing periodicals. Newspapers with postal periodical permits must maintain paid circulation and continuous publication in the county. Newspapers without those permits must print weekly, maintain at least 200 verified paid print subscriptions delivered by mail or carrier, and average at least 25% news content over the preceding 12 months. The second route also requires subscriptions priced above a nominal fee, a public office in the county, independent audits before qualification and annually afterward, and court approval. Applicants under the second route must publish notice before seeking approval. The court may revoke approval if the newspaper stops meeting the requirements. Qualification generally requires 104 consecutive weeks immediately before the first notice. Where no legal newspaper exists in the county, qualification is allowed after 52 consecutive, uninterrupted weeks in a 12-month period.

Qualified newspapers must make legal notices available online, advertise where readers can find them, and keep printed issues containing notices. These duties cover qualified newspapers under both qualification routes. A newspaper with a website must post its legal notices outside any paywall. Notices required by law, court order, or other means must also appear on the statewide newspaper website at no added cost to the person or official requesting publication. Each issue containing public notices must include an advertisement explaining where readers can find those notices. Posting must be timely. Notices on a newspaper's website must remain available at least as long as their required print run. Printed issues containing notices must be kept for at least three years.

Qualified newspapers must register ownership with the Oklahoma Secretary of State, meet ownership and funding restrictions, and qualify in only one county. The qualifying county is tied to the newspaper's original postal periodical permit or the county it declares under the other route. Newspapers must be independent of government. They cannot be owned, controlled, funded, or subsidized by political parties, government bodies, fraternal or religious organizations, or other parties that are not independent of government. If no legal newspaper exists in a county, required notices must run in a qualified newspaper in an adjoining Oklahoma county that circulates in the affected area. A newspaper without a postal periodical permit that moves its declared county must meet the full requirements again for 104 consecutive weeks. Each newspaper must declare its qualification route in its published ownership statement on October 1 each year. That choice lasts one year and cannot change until the next October 1.

Newspapers can retain continuous publication status despite certain missed issues or a move within the same county. These rules concern the steady publication schedule newspapers must maintain to carry legal notices. A 21-day interruption caused by fire, accident, natural disaster, a government-declared national health emergency, another unforeseen cause, or legal proceedings against newspaper equipment does not break continuity. A separate exception protects interruptions totaling no more than 14 consecutive days during a calendar year. Moving within the same county without breaking publication continuity preserves otherwise valid notices. A lawful name change accompanying that move also preserves them. These exceptions preserve notices that are otherwise valid. The 50-week schedule is measured over the immediately preceding 12 months. The 21-day interruption begins the day after the last publication.