Public and Legal Notices are important to any community. Great Falls Gazette is proud to be able to feature Public and Legal notices in our paper.
What are Notices
The difference between a public notice and a legal notice is as follows:
- Legal Notice: Anything ordered by the court, arising out of judicial proceedings. Also may be required by statute, ordinance, or administrative rule of a governmental agency.
- Public Notice: A statement made by a government agency or public body to inform the public about a particular issue or decision. Maybe be required for public parties in situations involving planned development or to notify the general public of information for public good.
Most notices are plain text, with possibly bolding or underlines. All graphical notices are priced the same, currently (as of October 2024) $3.50 per column/inch(1.75 inch x 1 inch). All Text Only notices are priced (as of October 2024) at 15¢ per word, the word count will NOT count the term Legal/Public Notice above the ad, nor the “Published in the Great Falls Gazette on <date>, <date>, <date>” portions of the ad. The person placing the ad should consider wording and how many times a notice should be run to fulfill any legal requirements. We suggest contacting competent legal counsel for advice if you’re unsure. We CAN NOT and WILL NOT give legal advice regarding notices. We are willing to help you craft a notice; IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO ENSURE THAT THE NOTICE MEETS YOUR REQUIREMENTS AND THAT IT CONTAINS EVERYTHING NEEDED FROM A LEGAL STANDPOINT! If we help write a notice, you will be sent a proof. You should review it, and generally, it’s best to have your attorney look it over before approval.
If your notice has graphics or special requirements, it will be considered a production ad, and charged in the same way as display ads for production. Simple text notices are inserted with no production fee. You do NOT have to submit your ad as PDF or image file, often it is best if you just send text. We require a ‘box’ around the notice, and the words “Public Notice” or “Legal Notice” at the top of ALL notices. There are no exceptions to this rule.
Notice Quality
We are very proud of our paper and require high-quality, non-offensive content. Notices that are crude, misleading, or in any way offensive will be refused. Unless required by statute, notices containing political messages WILL BE REFUSED. Misleading notices or notices submitted by persons not authorized by the persons involved will be refused.
Pricing
Text notices are 15 cents per word, and may include Bold and italics, but may not have specific fonts or type size. notices with graphics, images, or requiring specific fonts, different sizes, or other high production requirements are charged based on physical size, at a rate of $3.50 per Column/Inch (1.75″ x 1″) Size based ads may also require production fees and are generally more expensive.
Affidavits cost $5 each if purchased in conjunction with ad. If you need a replacement affidavit more than 30 days after your last ad insertion, there is a $10 charge for a new original.
Web Notices
Great Falls Gazette does not, at this time, accept notices for publication online. Generally, these notices are not valid in the State of Montana. If that situation should change, we will review our policy about online notices.
Guaranteed placement of Notice
All notices we accept will run in the edition of the paper we accept them for. The exact placement of the notice on the page or in relation to other notices is solely at the discretion of Great Falls Gazette staff.
Affidavit of Publication
Once payment has been made and all insertions made, all notices will receive an Affidavit of Publication from the publisher. Included will be a copy of your invoice showing payment and a tear sheet of at least one of your insertions. If you require tear sheets for all publications, please call and request the additional sheets. There will be an additional charge for extra sheets due to increased costs and the need for additional handling. Photocopies/scans of the Affidavit are available for a nominal fee; notarized copies are $5 per additional notarized copy. Pricing for Public / Legal Notices does NOT include an affidavit.
There are options for rush service on the affidavit, but no affidavit will be released before payment is made. Affidavits may be picked up at our office for free during normal business hours. Affidavits may also be delivered via our delivery network for free. Mailing affidavits will incur postage/shipping charges depending on how they are sent, mailing of the first affidavit via First Class postage via USPS is free.
Payment for notice
Generally, first-time placement of notices requires prepayment. If you require terms, you should contact us at sales BEFORE placing your notice. Government agencies are all on Net15 terms or better and do NOT require pre-approval for terms. At no time will an Affidavit of Publiction be released until payment is made, regardless of terms. If paying by check (prepayment or payment made on terms) and check is returned for any reason, then all future notices MUST be prepaid, and must have payment cleared before any future insertions of notice. Payments may also be made by credit/debit card, or paid in cash at our office. DO NOT SEND CASH IN MAIL. Great Falls Gazette is not responsible for lost, misdirected, damaged, or stolen mail. If your Affidavit of Publication is lost in the mail, Great Falls Gazette’s sole responsibility is to resend the Affidavit to you.
You may request hand delivery of your Affidavit in Great Falls. Non-rush hand delivery is free, but it may take 3 or more business days to arrive, and is limited to City of Great Falls.
Refunds / Credits
Refunds or credits will ONLY be given on notices if the notice is not published on the dates you requested or if your notice did not include your approved text. No refunds or credits will be made for any other reason.
Notice Submission Form
Please note: Submitting this form is a binding contract for services. DO NOT SUBMIT IF YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO PAY FOR YOUR NOTICE! If you realize that your notice contains incorrect information, contact us immediately. Once printing begins, notices can not be changed or canceled. If you choose to cancel a notice, you agree to pay for all published notices. Notices canceled BEFORE the editorial deadline are generally not charged.