§ 25-523.Legal and other official notices; publication; legal newspaper; requirements; prior publications legalized.
Article 5: Commencement of Actions and Service of Process · Last amended 2026 · Last verified July 22, 2026
In one sentenceSection 25-523 sets the circulation and publication-history requirements a print or digital newspaper must meet to qualify as a “legal newspaper” for official notices, defines “digital newspaper” and “e-edition,” provides a fallback for counties with no qualifying paper, and preserves notices published during certain past interruptions.
Full Text of § 25-523
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(1) For purposes of this section:
(a) Digital newspaper means an Internet website that:
(i) Employs staff in the county from which the digital newspaper is published online;
(ii) Has at least three hundred paid subscribers if located in a city of the metropolitan class or city of the primary class;
(iii) Has at least two hundred paid subscribers if located in a city of the first class, city of the second class, or village;
(iv) Publishes exclusively online;
(v) Has updated its news at least once each week for at least one year prior to the publication of a notice; and
(vi) Reports on events and governmental activities of local interest; and
(b) E-edition means a digital facsimile of a newspaper's print edition that is accessible from such newspaper's website and is substantially the same in both format and content as the print edition of such newspaper.
(2)(a) No newspaper shall be considered a legal newspaper for the publication of legal and other official notices unless the same shall have a bona fide circulation of at least three hundred paid subscriptions if located in a city of the metropolitan class or a city of the primary class or at least two hundred paid subscriptions if located in a city of the first class, city of the second class, or village, and shall have
been published within the county or an adjacent county for fifty-two successive weeks prior to the publication of such notice, and then subsequently at least fifty times per year.
(b) The e-edition of a legal newspaper shall be considered a legal newspaper for the publication of legal and other official notices only if (i) such notices are contemporaneously published in the print edition of such newspaper or (ii) the newspaper (A) has ceased publication of its print edition and (B) was considered a legal newspaper when it ceased publication.
(c) If no newspaper considered to be a legal newspaper publishes either a print edition or an e-edition within a county, any legal and other official notices directed to persons or entities in that county may be published in a digital newspaper within the county if available at a rate not to exceed legal notice rates pursuant to sections 33-141 to 33-143.
(3) Nothing in this section shall invalidate the publication in a newspaper which has suspended publication, on account of fire, flood, or other unavoidable accident, for not to exceed ten weeks, in the year last preceding the first publication of a legal notice, advertising, or publication. All publications made prior to May 22, 1941, in a newspaper which has, on account of flood, fire, or other unavoidable accident, suspended publication or been printed in an office outside of the county, are hereby legalized.
Source
Laws 1915, c. 221, § 1, p. 490; Laws 1919, c. 133, § 1, p. 309; C.S.1922, § 8589; C.S.1929, § 20-523; Laws 1935, c. 40, § 1, p. 157; Laws 1941, c. 31, § 1, p. 139; C.S.Supp.,1941, § 20-523; Laws 1943, c. 44, § 1(1), p. 189; R.S.1943, § 25-523; Laws 1972, LB 661, § 17; Laws 2026, LB596, § 6. Effective Date: July 18, 2026
Plain-English Summary
Not every newspaper can carry a legal notice. Section 25-523 spells out what qualifies. A print newspaper needs a bona fide paid circulation — at least three hundred subscriptions in a metropolitan or primary-class city, or two hundred in a first-class city, second-class city, or village — and it must have been published in the county or an adjacent county for fifty-two straight weeks before running the notice, and at least fifty times a year afterward. A newspaper’s e-edition, meaning a digital facsimile of its print edition, counts as a legal newspaper only if notices run in the print edition at the same time, or if the paper has stopped printing but still qualified when it did.
A 2026 amendment added a new option for counties that have no qualifying print or e-edition newspaper at all: a digital newspaper. To meet that definition, the outlet needs local staff in the county, a minimum paid-subscriber count matching the tiers used for print papers, exclusively online publication, at least a year of weekly updates before the notice runs, and a focus on local news and government activity. Where no legal newspaper covers a county in print or e-edition form, a qualifying digital newspaper may carry official notices, at rates no higher than the statutory legal-notice rate.
The section closes with a grandfather clause. A newspaper that suspended publication for up to ten weeks in the year before a notice ran, because of fire, flood, or another unavoidable accident, does not lose its status over that gap. And any notice published before May 22, 1941, in a newspaper that had suspended or moved its printing outside the county because of flood, fire, or accident, is treated as valid.
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes a print newspaper a “legal newspaper” in Nebraska?
It needs a minimum bona fide paid circulation — three hundred subscriptions in a metropolitan or primary-class city, two hundred elsewhere — and a fifty-two-week publication history in the county or an adjacent county, followed by at least fifty issues a year.
What is a “digital newspaper” under this section?
An online-only news outlet that employs local staff in the county, meets the same subscriber thresholds as a print legal newspaper, has updated weekly for at least a year, and reports on local news and government activity.
What is an “e-edition,” and when does it count as a legal newspaper?
It is a digital facsimile of a newspaper’s print edition, substantially matching the print version in format and content. It counts as a legal newspaper only if notices also run in the print edition at the same time, or if the paper has stopped printing but qualified when it did.
What happens if no qualifying newspaper serves my county at all?
A digital newspaper meeting the statute’s definition may carry legal and official notices for that county, at a rate that cannot exceed the statutory legal-notice rate.
Does a newspaper lose its legal status if it stops printing for a few weeks after a fire or flood?
No. A suspension of up to ten weeks in the year before a notice runs, caused by fire, flood, or another unavoidable accident, does not disqualify the paper.
When did the digital newspaper option take effect?
The amendment adding the digital-newspaper definition and fallback option carries an effective date of July 18, 2026.
Source & verification. Section text and the amendment-history citation are
reproduced verbatim from the Nebraska Legislature, Revisor of Statutes, enacted by the
Nebraska Legislature. Last verified July 22, 2026. ·
Official source
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