Short answer. Two affidavits: one from the publisher, editor, or business or advertising manager, with a copy of the actual publication attached, and another showing that a copy of the summons and the publication order was deposited at the post office, postage prepaid, and sent by registered mail to the defendant's last known address.
What the law says
If the service has been made by publication, service may be proved by the affidavit of the publisher, editor, business or advertising manager, to which affidavit a copy of the publication shall be attached and by an affidavit showing the deposit of a copy of the summons and order for publication in the post office, postage prepaid, directed to the defendant by registered mail to his or her last known address.
Rule 14, Section 22 — Proof of service by publication. Read the full provision →
Two separate affidavits required
Proving that service was actually made by publication is not accomplished with a single sworn statement standing alone. The rule instead calls for the affidavit of the publisher, editor, business, or advertising manager on one hand, and a genuinely separate affidavit addressing the accompanying registered-mail mailing on the other hand entirely. Both pieces have to be assembled and submitted together before the publication service can be considered adequately proven.
What the publisher's affidavit must include
The affidavit coming from the publisher, editor, business, or advertising manager must have an actual copy of the publication itself physically attached to it when submitted. This requirement ties the sworn statement to concrete, independently verifiable evidence that the publication genuinely occurred as claimed, rather than resting on nothing more than an unsupported bare assertion that it was run in some newspaper.
What the mailing affidavit must show
The second required affidavit must show that a copy of both the summons and the order for publication was deposited in the post office, with postage fully prepaid, and directed to the defendant specifically by registered mail sent to his or her last known address on file. This second affidavit documents the companion mailing step that typically accompanies publication under the extraterritorial and other analogous service provisions in this Rule.
Why publication alone isn't treated as sufficient
Requiring both the publication proof and this separate mailing proof together reflects the reality that publication by itself is a comparatively weak and unreliable way of actually reaching one specific individual defendant; pairing it with registered mail sent to the defendant's last known address, and requiring documentation of both steps, gives the entire process a considerably stronger factual basis for concluding the defendant genuinely had an opportunity to learn of the case against him.
Related provisions
- Rule 14, Section 22 — Proof of service by publication
- Rule 14, Section 21 — Proof of service
- Rule 14, Section 23 — Voluntary appearance