The Power of a Subpoena in California

The Types of Subpoenas

California has two families of subpoenas, and the Judicial Council has a form for each:

• Civil subpoenas for a trial or hearing (CCP § 1985 and following). Form SUBP-001 commands a witness to appear and testify; SUBP-002, a subpoena duces tecum, commands the witness to appear and bring documents or things.
• Deposition subpoenas (CCP § 2020.010 and following). Form SUBP-015 commands a witness to appear and testify at a deposition; SUBP-010 commands a custodian to produce business records to a deposition officer, with no testimony; and SUBP-020 commands both testimony and production. Most records in litigation arrive under SUBP-010; our records retrieval division acts as deposition officer for those.

A party to the case doesn’t get a subpoena. A deposition notice compels a party or a party-affiliated officer or employee to appear and produce documents (CCP § 2025.280(a)), and a notice to attend does the same at trial (§ 1987(b)). In federal court, Rule 45 subpoenas use forms AO 88, AO 88A, and AO 88B.

Who Can Issue a Subpoena

A subpoena is issued in the name of the court. An attorney of record for a party can sign and issue one without going to the clerk (CCP § 1985(c) for trial subpoenas; § 2020.210(b) for deposition subpoenas). A self-represented party gets a subpoena from the clerk, signed and sealed but otherwise blank, and fills in the rest (§ 1985(c)). Nobody else can issue one.

For a subpoena duces tecum at trial, the attorney or party also prepares a declaration showing good cause for producing the documents and that they are material to the case, which is served with the subpoena (§ 1985(b)).

How a Subpoena Is Served

A subpoena is served by delivering a copy to the witness personally (CCP § 1987(a); § 2020.220(b)). Mail doesn’t work, email doesn’t work, and leaving it with a roommate doesn’t work. For an organization, the deposition subpoena is delivered to an officer, director, custodian of records, or an agent or employee authorized to accept it (§ 2020.220(b)(2)).

• Witness fees. A witness subpoenaed to a civil trial is entitled to $35 a day and 20 cents a mile each way (Gov. Code § 68093), offered at the time of service if demanded (§ 1987(a)). For a deposition subpoena requiring personal attendance, the fee and mileage are paid at service whether or not the witness asks (§ 2020.230). Our witness fee and mileage calculator does the math.
• Timing. A trial subpoena has to be served a reasonable time before the appearance, and a deposition subpoena early enough to let the witness find the records or travel (§ 2020.220(a)). A records-only subpoena can’t set production earlier than 20 days after issuance or 15 days after service, whichever is later (§ 2020.410(c)).
• Notice to the consumer or employee. A subpoena for someone’s personal records, such as medical, bank, or insurance records, or for employment records, requires advance notice to that person on form SUBP-025, served at least 10 days before the production date and 5 days before the custodian is served, with extra time for mailing (§§ 1985.3 and 1985.6). Skip the notice and the custodian can’t produce.
• Proof of service. The server signs a proof of service under penalty of perjury, on the back of the subpoena form, showing the date, place, and manner of service and the fees paid or offered.

What Happens to a Witness Who Ignores It

Disobedience of a subpoena, or a refusal to be sworn or to answer, may be punished as contempt by the court that issued it (CCP § 1991). A person who fails to appear under a subpoena or court order also forfeits $500 to the party who subpoenaed them, plus any damages that party sustains (§ 1992), and the court can issue a warrant to bring a nonappearing witness in (§ 1993). That is what makes a subpoena different from a letter asking nicely.

The power runs both ways. A witness or a party can move to quash or modify a subpoena that is unreasonable, oppressive, or defective (§ 1987.1), and a records custodian can refuse to produce until an objection or motion to quash is resolved (§§ 1985.3(g) and 1985.6(f)). A subpoena that was issued or served wrong gives the witness an easy motion, which is why the service matters as much as the signature.

Serving Subpoenas Through Direct Legal

Our registered process servers serve trial and deposition subpoenas throughout California, tender the witness fees (we advance them when you ask), and return a signed proof of service. For records subpoenas, our Records Retrieval Division prepares the subpoena and the consumer notice, serves the custodian, acts as deposition officer, and delivers the records; see records retrieval. For witnesses and records in other states, see out-of-state subpoena service, and for federal cases, our federal subpoena service.

About This Article

Sources

• Code of Civil Procedure section 1985
• Code of Civil Procedure section 1985.3
• Code of Civil Procedure section 1985.6
• Code of Civil Procedure section 1987
• Code of Civil Procedure section 1987.1
• Code of Civil Procedure section 1991
• Code of Civil Procedure section 1992
• Code of Civil Procedure section 1993
• Code of Civil Procedure section 2020.010
• Code of Civil Procedure section 2020.210
• Code of Civil Procedure section 2020.220
• Code of Civil Procedure section 2020.230
• Code of Civil Procedure section 2020.410
• Code of Civil Procedure section 2025.280
• Government Code section 68093
• Judicial Council form SUBP-001, Civil Subpoena for Personal Appearance at Trial or Hearing
• Judicial Council form SUBP-002, Civil Subpoena (Duces Tecum) for Personal Appearance and Production of Documents
• Judicial Council form SUBP-010, Deposition Subpoena for Production of Business Records
• Judicial Council form SUBP-025, Notice to Consumer or Employee and Objection

Keep Reading

• Federal Subpoenas by Mail: The Rule 45 Changes Coming in 20272026 · Subpoenas, Records, and Out-of-State Service
• The Subpoena Was Served. Where Are the Records?2026 · Subpoenas, Records, and Out-of-State Service
• California Witness Fees and Mileage, With a CalculatorUpdated 2026 · Subpoenas, Records, and Out-of-State Service

See all 32 articles on the Direct Legal blog

How We Can Help

• Process servingRegistered, bonded service of process throughout California and nationwide.
• Records retrieval by subpoenaMedical, employment, and business records by subpoena, with deposition officer services.
• Out-of-state subpoenasForeign subpoenas domesticated in a California court and California subpoenas to be domesticated in other states.