Wis. Stat. § 985.08 — WI Code / Chapter 985 / Section 985.08
Fees for publishing.
Status: in_force

(1) The fee for publishing a legal notice shall be not more than the rate issued by the department of administration for the first and subsequent insertions per standard line. The charge for the publication of a facsimile ballot shall be computed as if the area occupied by the ballot were set in standard lines. If a legal notice contains tabulated matter, then the fees allowable for the area containing such matter shall be increased 50 percent of the standard line base rate without adjustment for circulation premium. Composed matter shall be interpreted as being tabular when it contains 2 or more justifications per line. The standard line rate shall be reviewed annually, the adjustment, if any, to be effective on January 1 of each year to reflect the relevant change in costs of the newspaper publishing industry during the previous year, as determined by the department of administration in consultation with representatives of the daily and weekly newspaper industry of the state. In making the determination the department shall base the standard line rate upon the factors of wage and independent indices of newsprint costs in the proportions determined by the department to be proper. No additional fee may be charged for placing a legal notice on the Wisconsin newspapers legal notices Internet site pursuant to s. 985.02 (3) .

(2)

(a) All legal notices shall be in a sans serif typeface. A standard line shall be a 6-point sans serif typeface on a 6-point leading without spacing between the lines and 11 picas in length. One inch equals 6 postscript pica and 72 postscript points. Nonstandard line lengths shall be allowed with adjustments in fees according to variations in line length. When the person or agency that places the notice elects not to use a 6-point sans serif typeface, a larger sans serif typeface up to 12 point may be used; in which case adjustment shall be made in line rate, proportionately decreasing for sizes of type over 6-point to produce the same net average compensation per column area. Such adjustments shall be evaluated by the department of administration, which shall certify the same to any newspaper, public official, or other interested party upon request, and such certification shall be presumptive evidence of the correct adjustments.

(b) When electronic copy for the entire notice or substantial areas thereof is provided, eliminating typesetting, enlargements or reductions, or other changes by the newspaper, the maximum rate is the same as the maximum rate established under sub. (1) for subsequent insertions.

(3) The publisher may increase rates allowed by this section up to 15 per cent for each 4,000 of circulation or fraction thereof above 8,000 of circulation, based on previous year-end circulation figures, but not to exceed an additional increase of 75 percent.

(4) In all counties having a population of 750,000 or more, the fees for the publication of a legal notice may be equal to, but not in excess of, the regular publishing rate actually required of private advertisers for similar advertising matter.

(5) Except as otherwise provided in this section, no fee shall be paid and no public funds shall be used for subsidizing any privately owned newspaper for payment for any legal notice, which newspaper has not previously qualified as a public newspaper as defined in s. 985.03 .

(6) In addition to required legal notice, the requisitioning agency may also publish such notice in other media such as trade journals and newspapers published in this state devoted substantially to the publication of official notices to bidders, but such additional notice shall not be construed as a legal notice.

(7) Fees established herein are applicable to legal notices and are not intended to restrict the use of classified and display advertising which is not required by statute to be published or legal notices which the requisitioning agency orders to be published in a classified or display manner. The discretion of utilizing the display method of publishing official materials shall be vested solely in the public authority ordering such publication and the rate charged for publication in this instance shall not exceed the regular commercial display advertising rate of the publisher.

(8) Upon request, a tear sheet proof of a multiple insertion notice shall be mailed or sent in electronic format to the advertiser or the advertiser’s attorney within 72 hours after the first insertion, and an additional charge of $1 for such tear sheet proof may be made.

History: 1977 c. 418 ; 1979 c. 34 ; 1987 a. 142 ; 1993 a. 486 ; 2009 a. 177 ; 2011 a. 228 ; 2015 a. 79 ; 2017 a. 207 s. 5 ; 2021 a. 32 ; 2025 a. 72 .