When governments create or authorize state and local agencies to create new programs, they typically require some measure of public disclosure as a form of public oversight and to make agencies accountable.
As far back as 1789, during the first American Congress, that accountability has come in the form of public notices in independently-published newspapers. Actions of the congress were ordered to be published in three separate newspapers to ensure wide circulation.
The concept eventually extended to commerce as a way to protect property interest, provide due process and consumer protection from certain business entities – foreclosures, bankruptcies or unclaimed property, to name a few. Continue>>>
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