§ 61.022.Affidavit

The application, and it is made on affidavit rather than by motion.

A plaintiff or the plaintiff’s agent or attorney must file an affidavit stating general grounds for issuance under Sections 61.001(1), (2), and (3), the amount of the demand, and specific grounds for issuance under Section 61.002.

All three general grounds must be sworn to. That the debt is just, that the attachment is not sought to injure or harass, and that the debt will probably be lost without the writ.

Swearing to those is what a plaintiff risks something on. The bond answers for damages from a wrongful attachment, and the affidavit is the document a defendant will point to in claiming them.

Allowing an agent or attorney to swear it is a practical concession, since a corporate plaintiff has no natural person to depose and the facts are often known to counsel.

Subsection (a-1) supplies a different affidavit for a child sexual assault suit. It states general grounds under Sections 61.001(2) and (3) only, specific grounds under Section 61.0021(a), and the amount of the demand based on the estimated cost of counseling and medical needs.

The omission of subsection (1) tracks that section’s design — there is no debt in such a case, so nothing is sworn about one.

The demand is stated as an estimate of care costs, which is a different exercise from stating a sum owed and is the figure the court works from in fixing the writ.

The affidavit is filed with the papers of the case, so it is on the record and available to the defendant challenging the writ.