Wisconsin Code § 985.01

Definitions
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As used in this chapter, unless the context requires otherwise:
(1b) “Bona fide paid circulation” means the paid circulation
of a newspaper for which the publisher of the newspaper has actual print, digital, or electronic subscribers for each publication of
not less than 1,000 copies for 1st and 2nd class cities or 300
copies for 3rd and 4th class cities, villages, or towns.
(1g) “Governing body” has the meaning given in s. 345.05
(1) (b) and includes a long-term care district board under s.
46.2895.
(1m) (a) Except as provided in par. (b), “insertion,” when
used to indicate the publication of a legal notice more than one
time, means once each week for consecutive weeks, the last of
which shall be at least one week before the act or event, unless
otherwise specified by law.
(b) With respect to a newspaper published in the town of
Washington, Door County, at least 2 times a month, “insertion,”
when used to indicate the publication of a legal notice more than
one time, means once in each issue of consecutive issues published at intervals of at least one week, the last issue of which
shall be published at least one week before the act or event, unless
otherwise specified by law.
(2) “Legal notice” means every notice required by law or by
order of a court to be published in a newspaper or other publication, except notices required by private and local laws to be published in newspapers, and includes all of the following:
(a) Every publication of laws, ordinances, resolutions, financial statements, budgets and proceedings intended to give notice
in an area.
(b) Every notice and certificate of election, facsimile ballot,
referenda, notice of public hearing before a governmental body,
and notice of meetings of private and public bodies required by
law.
(c) Every summons, order, citation, notice of sale or other notice that is intended to inform a person that the person may or
shall do an act or exercise a right within a designated period or
upon or by a designated date.
(3) “Municipality” has the meaning in s. 345.05 (1) (c) and
includes a long-term care district under s. 46.2895.
(3g) “News content” means written information and images,
other than advertisements, that are printed in a publication.
(3r) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection or in s.
985.03 (1) (am) , “newspaper” means a publication that is published at regular intervals and at least once a week, with a minimum of 50 issues each year containing, on average, at least 25
percent news content per issue, including reports of happenings
of recent occurrence of a varied character, such as political, social, moral and religious subjects, designed to inform the general
reader. “Newspaper” includes a daily newspaper published in a
county having a population of 750,000 or more, devoted principally to business news and publishing of records, which has been
designated by the courts of record of the county for publication of
legal notices for a period of 6 months or more. “Newspaper” also
includes a newspaper published in the town of Washington, Door
County, at least 2 times a month.
(4) “Proceedings,” when published in newspapers, mean the
substance of every official action taken by a local governing body
at any meeting, regular or special.
(5) A newspaper is “published” at the place from which its
mailing permit is issued, except that if the place where the newspaper has its major concentration of circulation has no primary
post office, then at the place it shall designate as its place of publication in the affidavit required by s. 985.03 (1) (cm) , but no
newspaper shall have more than one place of publication during
the same period of time.
(6) “Substance” is an intelligible abstract or synopsis of the
essential elements of the official action taken by a local governing body, including the subject matter of a motion, the persons
making and seconding the motion and the roll call vote on the
motion, except that ordinances and resolutions published as required by law need not be republished in proceedings, but a reference to their subject matter shall be sufficient.
(7) “Wisconsin newspapers legal notices Internet site” means
an Internet site maintained by Wisconsin newspapers for the purpose of providing and maintaining an electronic version of
printed and published legal notices.

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