Twin Cities attorney finds Triton has not published legal notices properly

An attorney for Triton Schools has determined the district is not publishing legal notices correctly and that the Dodge Center Messenger does not meet the requirements of a qualified newspaper to publish such notices.
In three separate opinions provided to the district over the past several months, Ann Goering, a Twin Cities attorney, outlined multiple reasons why the monthly publication is not suited to be a legal newspaper. The last opinion dated March 6 was also shared with officials at the City of Dodge Center and Dodge County.
Goering came to the same conclusion that Dodge Center City Attorney Timothy Woessner did late last year when the issue was raised by the Dodge County Independent, which has been a qualified legal newspaper for decades. Woessner’s opinion apparently did not satisfy local officials who then sought to hire an attorney from the Twin Cities.
Goering wrote the Messenger does not publish and distribute publications twice a month as required by statute.In addition, the Messenger has failed to post legal notices through the Minnesota Newspaper Association as required by law, she said.
“The Messenger’s failure to publish and distribute its issues twice in July 2023, and possibly other months, alone disqualify it as a legal newspaper at this time,” Goering said.
Goering’s investigation found that Triton Schools have not published legal notices correctly within the past year. She pointed out how a Public Notice of Request for Proposal with a deadline of Aug. 25, 2023 was finally published by the Messenger on Oct. 3. She said the publication of legal notices must be timely.
At the direction of Superintendent Craig Schlichting, the Triton School Board voted last July to switch legal notice publication from the Dodge County Independent to the Messenger. However, none of the notices from the district that have published since then have been valid.
On Jan. 29, Goering offered a follow-up opinion to Schlichting stressing once again that the Messenger has not complied with the statutory requirements of a legal newspaper. She also made it clear that the district must comply with statutory requirements for at least one full year before even considering the Messenger as a legal newspaper.
She outlined how the Messenger failed to timely publish its e-edition at least twice a month over the past year. For example, Goering pointed out that the August, September and October e-editions were finally published in November 2023, which coincides with the exact timing of when the Dodge County Independent raised the issue with Schlichting and school board members. In fact, posting online came within days of the Independent reaching out to the district.
Officials have previously said the cost to get this opinion would be shared by all three entities, Dodge Center, Triton and Dodge County.
After the Dodge County Independent raised the issue last November, Schlichting simply told the newspaper to take the matter to court if it doesn’t agree with Triton’s decision. Repeated efforts to resolve the matter with Schlichting and all board members were unsuccessful.
The issue came before the Dodge Center City Council at its regular meeting Monday night. The Triton School Board will address the issue next Monday, March 18.