When anything is authorized or required by law to be published in a newspaper, the certificate of the editor, publisher, business manager or assistant business manager, or the affidavit of any other person, shall be admitted as evidence of what is stated herein as to the publication.
§ 8.01-415.Affidavit evidence of publication.
Chapter 14. Evidence · Article 8. Certain Affidavits · Last amended 1977 · Last verified July 16, 2026
In one sentenceSection 8.01-415 lets a party prove that a legally required newspaper publication occurred by submitting a certificate from the newspaper’s editor, publisher, or business manager, or an affidavit from anyone else, rather than requiring live testimony about the publication.
Full Text of § 8.01-415
Plain-English Summary
Some legal notices — orders of publication, certain sale notices, and similar filings — must run in a newspaper before a case can move forward. This section supplies an easy way to prove that happened. A certificate signed by the newspaper’s editor, publisher, business manager, or assistant business manager is admitted as evidence of what it states about the publication, and so is an affidavit from any other person who can speak to it.
The practical effect is to spare a party from having to track down and call a newspaper employee as a witness every time publication needs to be proved. A signed certificate or affidavit does the work instead, so long as it addresses what the statute cares about — the fact and content of the publication.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can a party prove a required legal notice ran in the newspaper?
By offering a certificate from the newspaper’s editor, publisher, business manager, or assistant business manager, or an affidavit from any other person, addressing what was published.
Does someone from the newspaper have to testify in court about the publication?
No. Section 8.01-415 allows a certificate or affidavit to serve as evidence in place of live testimony.
Who besides a newspaper employee can supply the affidavit?
Any other person may make the affidavit — the statute is not limited to newspaper staff.
What kinds of publications does this section cover?
Anything the law authorizes or requires to be published in a newspaper, without limiting the affidavit to any one type of legal notice.
What does the certificate or affidavit prove?
What it states about the publication — for example, that the notice ran, and when — as evidence of those facts.
Amendment History
Code 1950, § 8-329; 1977, c. 617.
Source & verification. Section text and amendment history are
reproduced verbatim from the Code of Virginia, published by the
Code of Virginia, Virginia Division of Legislative Automated Systems. Last verified July 16, 2026.
· Official source
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