How to find local legal notices without a print edition of the ‘Examiner’

When the Bellefontaine Examiner ceased its print publication Dec. 13, there emerged an unintended consequence of leaving Logan County attorneys, governmental agencies, courts and other required parties to figure out how to meet Ohio’s print requirement for legal and public notices going forward.

The print requirement can be met by publishing notices in The County Classifieds, in the newspaper of a neighboring community or in the Dayton-based Daily Court Reporter.

Where required parties publish their notices is up to the individual agency, entity or attorney’s discretion. This may make it difficult for some Logan County residents to know where to go to look for many kinds of important legal information that was for 135 years found in the pages of the Examiner.

The Logan County Sheriff’s Office, Logan County Commission and Logan County Prosectors Office are utilizing the Daily Court Reporter for things like sheriff sales, foreclosures, county job bids and public notices. The City of Bellefontaine is using the Urbana Daily Citizen for its notices.

The Logan County Libraries are publishing their notices in the The County Classifieds. Library officials confirmed they consulted with Ohio Auditor of State personnel and the local publication can be used to meet the state’s print requirement for notices.

If you don’t have a print subscription to out-of-area print publications there are digital databases where local notices can be viewed free of charge.

A great resource to find notices published in Ohio newspapers, including the Examiner through Dec. 13, 2025, is the Ohio Public Notices website. This free site offered through the Ohio News Media Association lets users filter their searches by publication, location, key word and date.

The homepage of the Daily Court Reporter site allows users to sign up for a paid print subscription and also has a free search option online. Using “Logan”, “Logan County”, or “Logan County, Ohio” seemed to yield the best results, but users may have to sift through some out-of-area results that contain some combination of those words.

Logan County officals report that print copies of the Daily Court Reporter will be available at the Logan County Courthouse and at other locations to be announced.

Below is an excerpt from the Logan County Sheriff’s Office website with links to local sheriff’s sale information and other helpful resources.

Check www.examiner.org regularly to stay “in the know” regarding public and legal notices locally and for updates on how local agencies, entities, townships and others are handling their notices.

SHERIFF SALES
FORECLOSURE ASSISTANCE

PROPERTIES FOR SALE

• Continuity: Must have been published continuously for at least three years.
• Frequency: Must be issued at least once a week.
• Content: Must contain at least 25% editorial content (e.g., local news, sports, or political info).
• Format: Minimum of eight pages for broadsheet or 16 pages for tabloid.
• Distribution: Must be circulated by mail or carrier in the relevant political subdivision and have the ability to add new subscribers. 

• Simultaneous Online Posting: Whenever a notice is required in a newspaper, the publisher must also post it on their own website (if they have one) at no extra charge.
• Statewide Public Notice Site: The publisher must also upload the notice to the Official Ohio Public Notice Website, a centralized database maintained by the Ohio News Media Association.
• Government Rates: Newspapers must establish a “government rate” for these notices that does not exceed their lowest classified advertising rate. 

• Abbreviated Notices (ORC §7.16): For notices required two or more times, entities may often publish the first notice in full in the newspaper and satisfy subsequent requirements with an abbreviated notice in print plus a full version online.
• Local Government Options: Under HB 33, many municipalities may now satisfy certain notice requirements by posting on their official website and social mediaaccounts as an alternative to multiple newspaper ads.
• Public Improvements/Bidding: Notice for competitive bidding must typically be published once a week for at least two consecutive weeks preceding the bid opening.
• Foreclosure Sales: Notices for the sale of lands must be published for three consecutive weeks.