Not worth the risk
The most inexperienced skater knows not to skate on thin ice, especially when good ice is available.
Many readers think we've been upset over the county commissioners' decision to publish legal notices in the Hillsboro Free Press Extra because it costs us money. Fact is, legal notices aren't exactly a high-profit item, particularly when we've always absorbed most of the cost of running them in larger type, so readers can actually read them.
What really worries us is that the commissioners and their advisers are taking a risk, one that could have dire consequences.
State law requires that legal notices be published in newspapers with general paid circulation.
Combined, Hillsboro Free Press Extra and Hillsboro Free Press have maybe 150 paid subscribers. That's not "general" circulation.
For the exact same price, the county could have had 5,800 paid subscribers using the Marion County Record, Hillsboro Star-Journal and Peabody Gazette-Bulletin.
A legal notice published in the FP Extra could be challenged for "improper notice" by anyone who might not be happy. That could include ordinances, road closings, delinquent taxes, elections, and hundreds of others.
The county would have to defend itself against using a limited publication when three fully certified newspapers are available.
The result would be costly, time consuming, and cause confusion and controversy.
We desperately want to avoid that. We have a public trust, too — an obligation to make sure elected officials don't do the equivalent of investing county funds in lottery tickets.
Make no mistake about it: That's exactly what they've done by deciding to publish legal notices in Hillsboro Free Press Extra.
It's not too late to rescind that action and put Marion County back on a firm foundation. Commissioners should designate one of the three fully qualified publications. Why take such a risk?
— BILL MEYER
