(a) A newspaper shall charge and receive for publishing a legal advertisement a rate not exceeding the lowest regular classified advertising rate charged by the newspaper to its commercial customers.

(b) On or before July 1 of each year, the publisher of each newspaper that publishes any legal advertisement in this state shall file with the county clerk of the county in which the newspaper is located a card showing the newspaper’s rates for legal advertisements, which shall be effective for a period of one year from the July 1 on or before which the filing is made.

(c) Any contract rates or volume discounts given to commercial customers by the newspaper shall be available to persons or political subdivisions causing publication of legal advertisements, under the same terms and conditions as for commercial advertisements.

(d) The classified rate for legal advertisements shall not in any year be increased by more than 15% in excess of the rate for the next preceding year.

(e) Proof of the publication of all such notices shall be made in the manner required by law or the order or citation of court or summons, and each such proof of publication shall be accompanied by a verified statement of the fees and charges therefor. The fees and charges of all such publications when made in any action or proceeding in any court of this state shall be taxed as costs and collected in the same manner as other costs in the action or proceeding.

(f) Failure to charge rates in accordance with this section shall in no way affect the validity of any official public notice or legal advertisement and shall not subject any such notice or advertisement to legal attack upon such grounds.

(g) As used in this section, “legal advertisement” and “political subdivision” have the meanings provided by Kan. Stat. Ann. § 28-137b, and amendments thereto.