NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday approved sending out Requests for Proposal to designate an official Reno County newspaper.
"Every county is required, by statute, to designate a county newspaper," said County Counselor Patrick Hoffman. "There are various statutes that require publication of different things in the county newspaper. There's some quarterly financial information. The easiest example I can think of is, a lot of our resolutions, when you guys pass them, are effective upon publication. That publication goes into that county newspaper."
The Hutchinson News is currently the newspaper for official county publications.
"We've brainstormed different ways that we might be able to bring the cost down for those required publications," Hoffman said. "That's where it was suggested that maybe we should just send out a Request for Proposals to see if there were more than one newspaper in the county that meets the qualifications found in KSA 64-101 to be eligible and then also find out what the rates would be and then bring that information back to the commissioners and decide if you wanted to update, change or remain the same, your official newspaper."
Below is the proposed RFP:
Reno County is requesting qualifications and pricing for a newspaper to serve as the official county newspaper. Once designated the official county newspaper shall serve until such time as the governing body designates a different newspaper.
The requirements to be designated as official county newspaper are set out in K.S.A. 64-101 and are as follows:
1. The newspaper must be published at least 50 times each year and has been so published for at least one year prior to the publication of any official county publication.
2. The newspaper must be entered at the post office in the Reno County as periodical class mail matter.
3. The newspaper must have general paid circulation in Reno County on a daily, weekly, or yearly basis and is not a trade, religious, or fraternal publication.
4. The newspaper must be published in Reno County.
Newspapers shall respond with documentation that they meet the requirements and pricing by the Reno County Commissioners to be considered as a candidate to be the Reno County Official newspaper.
The motion to send out the request passed unanimously.
As an example of another publication in the county that may meet the requirements, the Ninnescah Valley News in Pretty Prairie is the City of South Hutchinson's official newspaper.
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