Cross-jurisdiction analysis
The states that make you buy newspaper space
In 5 states (Arizona, Georgia, Nebraska, New York, Pennsylvania) forming a business entity is not complete until notice has been published in a newspaper, and in 6 jurisdictions the same is true of a trade-name or DBA filing. The cost never appears on a state fee schedule, because it is not paid to the state: it is paid to a newspaper, at a rate the newspaper sets. That makes it the single largest unpublished component of the true cost of a filing.
6DBA publication jurisdictionsof 53 with a DBA regime
46No publication requirementof 51 structured
25County rows with a stated publication chargethe only ones that can be totalled
Entity formation must be published 5DBA filing must be published (formation need not be) 3No publication requirement found 43Outside the structured dataset 3
Entity formation publication
| State | What the requirement is | Confidence |
|---|---|---|
| AZ Arizona | Signature AZ trap, entity-dependent: domestic LLCs publish a NOTICE OF FILING (29-3201(G)); domestic AND foreign for-profit and nonprofit corporations publish a COPY of the articles/application (10-203(D), 10-1503(D), 10-3203(D), 10-11503(D)); LLPs/LLLPs publish the statement of qualification (29-1103(A)). Mechanics: within 60 days of ACC approval (SOS filing for LLPs), 3 consecutive publications in a qualified newspaper in the relevant county. EXEMPTION for ACC-filed entities only: county population over 800,000 (ACC names Maricopa and Pima) - ACC posts to its website database instead (10-130(B)); the LLP publication duty at the SOS has NO county exemption. Plain LPs and foreign LLCs never publish. Penalties diverge: non-publication is an administrative-dissolution/revocation ground for corporations (10-1420(5), 10-1530(5), 10-11420(5)) and LLP-status revocation ground (29-1103(D)), but is NOT a dissolution ground for LLCs (absent from 29-3708(A)); LLC amendment-publication failure does bar maintaining court actions (29-3202(J)). | high |
| GA Georgia | CORPORATIONS ONLY (profit, nonprofit, professional, benefit; DOMESTIC incorporation only): notice of intent to incorporate published in the county legal-organ newspaper once a week for two consecutive weeks; $40 fee paid directly to the newspaper no later than the next business day after filing articles; no proof of publication filed with SOS. NOT required for LLC, LP/LLLP, or LLP formation, nor for any foreign qualification. Georgia also requires publication for corporate name changes and dissolutions (out of formation scope), and for county trade-name (DBA) registrations under O.C.G.A. 10-1-490. | not graded |
| NE Nebraska | YES for DOMESTIC formation of LLCs, corporations, and nonprofits (one of the few publication states): notice published THREE SUCCESSIVE WEEKS in a legal newspaper of general circulation near the designated office (LLC, 21-193) / in the principal-office county (corp 21-2,229; nonprofit 21-19,173), with proof of publication FILED with the SOS. Amendments, mergers, conversions, and dissolutions also require published notice (dissolution notice includes terms, wind-up parties, and an assets/liabilities statement). No express voiding penalty - cure clause validates acts on late publication + proof. Does NOT apply to foreign qualifications, LPs, or LLPs (zero publication provisions in ch. 67 acts, corpus-searched). Newspaper cost ~$40-$250 typical, not an SOS fee. | high |
| NY New York | LLC (LLC Law 206), PLLC (LLCL 1203/206), LP (PL 121-201(c)) and LLP (PL 121-1500(a)): publish the formation document or notice once weekly for six successive weeks in two county-clerk-designated newspapers (one daily, one weekly) of the office county; file Certificate of Publication with DOS within 120 days ($50). Failure = SUSPENSION of authority to do business (not dissolution; annulled retroactively on late compliance, no reinstatement fee in statute). Corporations and nonprofits do NOT publish. Newspaper cost is market-rate and unofficial: ~$1,500-$2,000+ NY County vs ~$300-$600 upstate (low confidence, phone-verify to county clerks open). | not graded |
| PA Pennsylvania | CORPORATIONS ONLY: domestic business corporations (15 Pa.C.S. 1307) and domestic nonprofit corporations (5307) must 'officially publish' notice of intention to file or of filing of articles - two newspapers of general circulation in the registered-office county, one being the county legal journal if any (Sec. 102 definition); once; before or after filing; NO deadline, NO proof filed with DOS (kept with minutes), NO statutory penalty. NOT required for LLCs, LPs, or LLPs (DOS states no advertising for those). Foreign corps have an analogous requirement on registration (4124/6124) and on withdrawal (4129/6129). Nonprofit dissolution also requires one-time publication of winding-up notice (5975(b)). | not graded |
Trade-name and DBA publication
| Jurisdiction | What the requirement is |
|---|---|
| CA California | B&P 17917 (verified from leginfo this session): within 45 days after filing, publish the statement in a newspaper of general circulation in the county where filed (adjoining county if none; Sacramento County if no CA place of business), once a week for 4 successive weeks (GC 6064); file affidavit of publication with the county clerk within 45 days after completion of publication. NOTE: many county |
| FL Florida | Advertise the intention to register the fictitious name at least ONCE in a newspaper (as defined in ch. 50, F.S.) in the county of the registrant's principal place of business, before registering. No proof of publication is filed with the state - the registrant certifies on the application (under the signature) that the advertisement ran. No multi-week run, no affidavit filing. |
| GA Georgia | OCGA 10-1-490(b): notice of the trade name filing must be published once a week for two weeks in the newspaper in which the county sheriff's advertisements are published (the county's official legal organ). The registrant is responsible for arranging/paying publication; practice varies by county - Gwinnett collects $40 payable to the Gwinnett Daily Post at filing, Hall collects $60 payable to the |
| MN Minnesota | After filing with the SOS, the Certificate of Assumed Name (and any Amendment) must be published in a QUALIFIED LEGAL NEWSPAPER for TWO CONSECUTIVE ISSUES in the county of the principal place of business (Minn. Stat. 333.01). The newspaper returns an affidavit of publication which the business RETAINS - it is not filed with the SOS. No statutory publication deadline stated, but filing is not perfe |
| NE Nebraska | YES - Neb. Rev. Stat. 87-219: publish the registration once in a newspaper of general circulation in the city/village where the business is located (or county-wide paper if none). Proof of publication (affidavit) must be FILED WITH THE SECRETARY OF STATE within 45 days of registration or the registration is CANCELED. Hard operational deadline |
| PR Puerto Rico |
What it actually costs, where the cost can be totalled
County clerks who publish a fee schedule that separates the filing charge from the publication charge are the only place a true all-in figure can be computed from the record. There are 25 such rows in the county dataset. Everywhere else the publication charge is set by whichever newspaper the county designates, is paid directly to that newspaper, and is not published anywhere we can cite. That is stated as an unresolved component rather than being smoothed over with an average.
| County | Clerk filing | Publication | All in | As recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baldwin, GA | $166 | paid direct to the newspaper, amount not posted | cannot be totalled | Unverified - expect ~$166-$185 + publication; confirm with clerk |
| Bartow, GA | $166 | paid direct to the newspaper, amount not posted | cannot be totalled | Unverified - expect ~$166-$185 + publication; confirm with clerk |
| Berrien, GA | $166 | paid direct to the newspaper, amount not posted | cannot be totalled | Unverified - expect ~$166-$185 + publication; confirm with clerk |
| Cherokee, GA | $166 | paid direct to the newspaper, amount not posted | cannot be totalled | Unverified - expect ~$166-$185 + publication; confirm with clerk |
| Clayton, GA | $166 | paid direct to the newspaper, amount not posted | cannot be totalled | Unverified - expect ~$166-$185 + publication; confirm with clerk |
| Cobb, GA | $166 | paid direct to the newspaper, amount not posted | cannot be totalled | Unverified - expect ~$166-$185 + publication; confirm with clerk, (770) 528-1300 |
| Dawson, GA | $166 | paid direct to the newspaper, amount not posted | cannot be totalled | Unverified - expect ~$166-$185 + publication; confirm with clerk |
| Dekalb, GA | $174 | paid direct to the newspaper, amount not posted | cannot be totalled | $174 (eff. 7/1/2024; same for amendment/cancellation) + publication paid directly to The Champion Newspaper |
| Dougherty, GA | $166 | paid direct to the newspaper, amount not posted | cannot be totalled | Unverified - expect ~$166-$185 + publication; confirm with clerk |
| Forsyth, GA | $166 | paid direct to the newspaper, amount not posted | cannot be totalled | Unverified - expect ~$166-$185 + publication; confirm with clerk |
| Glynn, GA | $166 | paid direct to the newspaper, amount not posted | cannot be totalled | Unverified - expect ~$166-$185 + publication; confirm with clerk |
| Gwinnett, GA | $172 | $40 | $212 | $172 filing + $40 publication payable to Gwinnett Daily Post |
| Hall, GA | $175 | $60 | $235 | $175 filing + $60 publication payable to Gainesville Times; cancellation $25 |
| Harris, GA | $166 | paid direct to the newspaper, amount not posted | cannot be totalled | Unverified - expect ~$166-$185 + publication; confirm with clerk |
| Houston, GA | $166 | paid direct to the newspaper, amount not posted | cannot be totalled | Unverified - expect ~$166-$185 + publication; confirm with clerk |
| Laurens, GA | $166 | paid direct to the newspaper, amount not posted | cannot be totalled | Unverified - expect ~$166-$185 + publication; confirm with clerk |
| Liberty, GA | $166 | paid direct to the newspaper, amount not posted | cannot be totalled | Unverified - expect ~$166-$185 + publication; confirm with clerk |
| Muscogee, GA | $166 | paid direct to the newspaper, amount not posted | cannot be totalled | Unverified - expect ~$166-$185 + publication; confirm with clerk |
| Newton, GA | $166 | paid direct to the newspaper, amount not posted | cannot be totalled | Unverified - expect ~$166-$185 + publication; confirm with clerk, (770) 784-2000 |
| Thomas, GA | $166 | paid direct to the newspaper, amount not posted | cannot be totalled | Unverified - expect ~$166-$185 + publication; confirm with clerk |
| Toombs, GA | $166 | paid direct to the newspaper, amount not posted | cannot be totalled | Unverified - expect ~$166-$185 + publication; confirm with clerk |
| Troup, GA | $166 | paid direct to the newspaper, amount not posted | cannot be totalled | Unverified - expect ~$166-$185 + publication; confirm with clerk |
| Upson, GA | $166 | paid direct to the newspaper, amount not posted | cannot be totalled | Unverified - expect ~$166-$185 + publication; confirm with clerk |
| Wayne, GA | $166 | paid direct to the newspaper, amount not posted | cannot be totalled | Unverified - expect ~$166-$185 + publication; confirm with clerk |
| Whitfield, GA | $166 | paid direct to the newspaper, amount not posted | cannot be totalled | Unverified - expect ~$166-$185 + publication; confirm with clerk |
Why this matters more than the filing fee
A Georgia trade-name registration is recorded in the county dataset at roughly $166 to $175 in clerk fees. Add the mandatory two-week newspaper notice and the counties that state the number separately land materially higher. New York's LLC publication requirement runs six successive weeks in two newspapers designated by the county clerk, and in the downstate counties it is routinely the largest single line in the cost of forming the entity. None of that appears on any state fee schedule, and no comparison table that stops at the filing fee can see it.
Provenance - publication requirementsPending review
Citation withheld: this record does not yet carry a review status; and its provenance is an archived in-repo evidence capture rather than a live official source.
- Formation publication
- 51 records from the structured jurisdiction research
- DBA publication
- 53 jurisdiction regime records, 6 requiring publication
- County charges
- 259 county rows across 17 states; 25 state a publication charge separately
- Retrieved
- 2026-07-11 (formation), 2026-07-31 (DBA and counties)
Newspaper rates are commercial prices set by private publishers. They are not government fees, they are not published on a schedule we can monitor, and we do not estimate them.