GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
1997 SESSION
S.L. 1997-9
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1. G.S. 1-597 reads as rewritten:
"§ 1-597. Regulations for newspaper publication of legal notices, advertisements, etc.
Whenever a notice or any other paper, document or legal advertisement
of any kind or description shall be authorized or required by any of the laws
of the State of North Carolina, heretofore or hereafter enacted, or by any
order or judgment of any court of this State to be published or advertised in a
newspaper, such publication, advertisement or notice shall be of no force and
effect unless it shall be published in a newspaper with a general circulation
to actual paid subscribers which newspaper at the time of such publication,
advertisement or notice, shall have been admitted to the United States mails as
second-class matter in the Periodicals class in the county or
political subdivision where such publication, advertisement or notice is
required to be published, and which shall have been regularly and continuously
issued in the county in which the publication, advertisement or notice is
authorized or required to be published, at least one day in each calendar week
for at least 25 of the 26 consecutive weeks immediately preceding the date of
the first publication of such advertisement, publication or notice; provided
that in the event that a newspaper otherwise meeting the qualifications and
having the characteristics prescribed by G.S. 1-597 to 1-599, should fail for a
period not exceeding four weeks in any calendar year to publish one or more of
its issues such newspaper shall nevertheless be deemed to have complied with
the requirements of regularity and continuity of publication prescribed herein.
Provided further, that where any city or town is located in two or more
adjoining counties, any newspaper published in such city or town shall, for the
purposes of G.S. 1-597 to 1-599, be deemed to be admitted to the mails, issued
and published in all such counties in which such town or city of publication is
located, and every publication, advertisement or notice required to be
published in any such city or town or in any of the counties where such city or
town is located shall be valid if published in a newspaper published, issued
and admitted to the mails anywhere within any such city or town, regardless of
whether the newspaper's plant or the post office where the newspaper is
admitted to the mails is in such county or not, if the newspaper otherwise
meets the qualifications and requirements of G.S. 1-597 to 1-599. This
provision shall be retroactive to May 1, 1940, and all publications,
advertisements and notices published in accordance with this provision since
May 1, 1940, are hereby validated.
Notwithstanding the provisions of G.S. 1-599, whenever a notice or any other paper, document or legal advertisement of any kind or description shall be authorized or required by any of the laws of the State of North Carolina, heretofore or hereafter enacted, or by any order or judgment of any court of this State to be published or advertised in a newspaper qualified for legal advertising in a county and there is no newspaper qualified for legal advertising as defined in this section in such county, then it shall be deemed sufficient compliance with such laws, order or judgment by publication of such notice or any other such paper, document or legal advertisement of any kind or description in a newspaper published in an adjoining county or in a county within the same district court district as defined in G.S. 7A-133 or superior court district or set of districts as defined in G.S. 7A-41.1, as the case may be; provided, if the clerk of the superior court finds as a fact that such newspaper otherwise meets the requirements of this section and has a general circulation in such county where no newspaper is published meeting the requirements of this section.
Section 2. The prefatory language of subsection (b) of Section 20.14B of Chapter 18 of the 1995 Session Laws, Second Extra Session 1996, reads as rewritten:
"(b) G.S. 143-34.6 14-34.6
reads as rewritten:".
Section 3. This act is effective when it becomes law.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 19th day of March, 1997.
s/ Dennis A. Wicker
President of the Senate
s/ Harold J. Brubaker
Speaker of the House of Representatives
s/ James B. Hunt, Jr.
Governor
Approved 2:34 p.m. this 26th day of March, 1997