Understanding Service by Publication in Oklahoma
How long does service by publication typically take in Oklahoma and what are the costs involved? I’m Tulsa attorney James Wirth and that’s the question that we have. In the prior video, we talked about service by publication and when you can do that. Ideally, anytime a lawsuit is filed, there’s got to be some way to get service on a defendant.
Typically, that is done by a process server or by certified mail, but if after due diligence, you’re unable to get service that way, you’ve got the fallback method that should cover everything which is service by publication. But how long does that take? Well, that is statutory. It can be found in Title 12, Section 2004, and it’s going to be subsection C and then 3, and that’s service by publication.
Steps and Requirements for Service by Publication
And that notes that you’ve got to have service in a newspaper that is approved for legal publications in that county one day a week for three consecutive weeks. So, how do you know which newspaper is approved? Well, if you go down to your county court where you’re filing your court pleadings, you can talk to the court clerk. They’ve usually got baskets in there where you can put them for publication in the various authorized newspapers.
So, you’ve got to do that and the newspapers know how to do it because that’s part of their business. They do these legal notices, but it’s got to be published for one day a week for three consecutive weeks and then in that notification, which has got to be signed by the court clerk, certain things have to be in there. The names of the plaintiff, the names of the defendants that you’re serving, that a legal case has been filed, that an answer needs to be filed by a deadline, and that deadline is going to be stated in there and it has to be no earlier than 41 days after the first day that it’s published.
Timeline and Costs of Service by Publication
So, that’s going to be your deadline for them to file an answer. After that date, if you’ve done those three weeks of consecutive publications, then you can file for a default judgment. So, how long does the process take? At a minimum, it takes 41 days from the first date that you file that notice and when you give it to the newspaper to give a notice, there’s going to be a little bit of delay there, so that kind of gives you an idea of the timeline.
As far as the cost associated with it, each newspaper has its own cost and that could be determined based on the length of the notification that’s being published in the newspaper, but typically we see between $60 and $120 in the publication cost for that. Alright, so that is kind of the timeline for getting service by publication in the state of Oklahoma.
Get Expert Legal Advice Today
If you’ve got questions related to service by publication or something else, you’re going to want to talk to an attorney privately and confidentially to receive legal advice. To get that scheduled with an attorney at my office, you can go online to MakeLawEasy.com or call us at 918-879-1681. Schedule a low-cost initial strategy session to discuss your legal needs and find out how we can assist you.
