HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Board of Reno County Commissioners will take up the choice of a new county newspaper at their meeting on Wednesday.
There are ongoing questions regarding the legal status of the Rural Messenger and its status with the Postal Service as of when the agenda was released to commissioners.
At their last meeting, Nancy Stucky with the Ninnescah Valley News raised questions about the overall process, after the commission allowed the Rural Messenger to match her price, which is not how they normally handle requests for proposal.
Commissioners understood Stucky's point, and furthermore, chair Daniel Friesen raised the question of why counties have to have a designated newspaper at all, since cities are able to opt out of that through home rule statute.
With that in mind, the draft resolution in the agenda packet names the Ninnescah Valley News as the county's official paper, but it is still up to the Commission if that is the direction they vote in on Wednesday.
The Board of County Commissioners meets Wednesday at 9 a.m. in the Veterans Room of the Reno County Courthouse.
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