John, Josh is at the Capitol, doing his legislative work, and asked that I respond to your question.

The IPA Board has asked that in these situations, we provide to any member the information about the requirements of the statute, and the IPA policy on the defintion of the legal terms, and I am pleased to give you that information.
The Treasurers report is required to be published in a newspaper 'published in' the municipality. the statute requires:
Upon receipt of the account from the municipal treasurer, the municipal clerk shall publish the account at least once in one or more newspapers published in the municipality or, if no newspaper is published in the municipality, then in one or more newspapers having a general circulation within the municipality. In municipalities with a population of less than 500 in which no newspaper is published, however, publication may be made by posting a copy of the account in 3 prominent places within the municipality. 65

ILCS

5/3.1-35-65

The terms 'published in' is a term of art. Newspaper publications fall into two main categories, those that must be published in a newspaper 'published in' the municipality,and those that must be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the municipality. The treasurer's report falls into the first category-the 'published in' category. "Published in is a term that has been defined by the Supreme Court. In 1912, the Illinois Supreme Court in the case of People v. Reed (256 Ill. 408) addressed the question of the definition of "published in." In that case, the Supreme Court held: "It is immaterial where the printing is done but the place of publication of a newspaper is a place where it is first put into circulation, where it is first issued to be delivered or sent, by mail or otherwise, to its subscribers." This definition makes it clear that a newspaper can be published only in one place, although it may circulate into many places. Furthermore, and as the Court clearly states above, the determination of where a newspaper is "published in" hinges on only one factor where it is first put into circulation or otherwise offered to the public. Thus, while the printing of the newspaper may take place elsewhere or the newspaper may maintain a business address in a different township, county, or even state, the determining factor for "published in" remains the same. Garcia v. Tulley, a 1978 Illinois Supreme Court case, involved the publication of notices in certain townships in Cook County. The Chicago Tribune took the position that the simultaneous circulation of different editions of the newspaper into four townships meant that the newspaper may be considered "published in" each of those townships. The Court rejected that notion and held that the phrase "published in" is clearly meant to be a place where the newspaper is first issued or printed to be sent out by mail or otherwise.

In Northshore Savings and Loan Association v. Griffin, a 1979 Illinois Supreme Court decision, the Court was faced with a question concerning a publication made in the Chicago Daily News. The case involved the application of a savings and loan to relocate from Downers Grove to Waukegan. The statute required that a notice be published in a newspaper "published in the community in which the associations business office is located." The Court held that in this case that publication was required in a newspaper "first printed or issued for distribution in Downers Grove and Waukegan." The publication in the Daily News published in Chicago did not satisfy the statutory requirement. In the Northshore case, the Court also identified the best evidence of the place of publication of each newspaper. With each legal notice published by a newspaper, the newspaper is required to issue a Certificate of Publication. That Certificate identifies the point of publication of the newspaper. The Supreme Court determined that the Certificate of Publication constitutes a clear statement of intent by the newspaper to identify its own place of publication, and absent other circumstances, the selection of the point of publication by the newspaper is decisive. The position of the Illinois Press Association is that each newspaper can be published in only one location. The Chicago Tribune, for instance, can only be published in one location even though it is circulated statewide. A company which has more than one newspaper may publish many newspapers in many different locations, but each of those papers can only be "published in" one location. It is my understanding that it is your position that your paper, the Ashton Gazette, is 'published in' Ashton, and is the only paper 'published in' Ashton. If you choose, you may provide this research to the mayor, the village clerk (who has the statutory responsibility to publishe the Report, or to the village attorney John, on a related note, there are cases in which courts have determined that the action of a village official in taking required notices out of the newspaper of record in a town constitutes a violation of First Amendment rights, and is actionable as a civil rights violation under Section 1983 of the U. S. Civil Rights Act. You mentioned in your email that the mayor jerked this notice out of thepaper bacuase of the content of some material inyour paper. that could be such a violation. Don