News

Why Legal Advertising Should Be Kept in Community Papers

Legal advertising in community newspapers like The Brooke County Review, gives local residents advance “public notice” of action government officials plan in our communities and state,
As residents, we should remember that when a legal ad runs in our local newspaper, government officials – at some level – are planning an action that will impact us and likely our pocketbooks.
It might be a public meeting to discuss a new industrial development in our community, plans for a new highway through the neighborhood, spending on programs you oppose, the sale of family, friends’ or neighbors’ property for back taxes, or just changes to regulations and laws that impact our daily lives.
Regardless of the issue, it’s serious enough that public notice is required.
As elected representatives, most legislators support public notice and welcome feedback from the citizens of their district.
However, there are some legislators who apparently view public feedback as a nuisance. They want to eliminate and reduce public notice, or restrict it to a government website where we will have to go search each day to see what government plans will impact our lives and our communities.
E-mail your legislators and tell them to leave legal advertising and public notice alone. Show them you are watching and tell them you do want to stay informed of their plans and actions.
Frequently elected representatives to the state legislature find themselves supporting or opposing an issue about which they have little or no feedback from constituents. Leaving them uncertain where you stand on requiring government at all levels to keep you informed via legal notices is not in your best interest.
Legal notices in West Virginia’s 55 counties are an established practice of more than a century. It works. Leave it alone.
To contact your elected state officials on this subject, here is their contact information:
State Sen. Ryan Weld
e-mail: [email protected]
Address: Room 216W, Bldg. 1
1900 Kanawha Blvd. E.
Charleston, WV 25305
Phone: 304.357.7984
State Sen. Laura Wakim Chapman

e-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 304.357.7918
Address: Room 417M, Bldg. 1
1900 Kanawha Blvd. E.
Charleston, WV 25305
Del. Mark Zatezalo
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 304.340.3101
Address: Room 201E, Bldg. 1
1900 Kanawha Blvd. E.
Charleston, WV 25305
Del. Pat McGeehan
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 304.340.3192
Address: Room 211E, Bldg. 1
1900 Kanawha Blvd. E.
Charleston, WV 25305
Del. Jimmy Willis
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 304.340.3367
Address: Room 224E, Bldg. 1
1900 Kanawha Blvd. E.
Charleston, WV 25305