Alabama Subpoena
An Alabama records subpoena does not issue until 15 days after you notify every other party, and the witness fee is still $1.50 a day plus 5 cents a mile. Attorney review available.
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Introduction
Most states let you fill out a subpoena and serve it. Alabama makes you announce a records subpoena before it exists. Under Rule 45(a)(3)(A) of the Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure, a party who wants documents, electronically stored information or an inspection must first serve every other party with a Notice of Intent to Serve Subpoena for Production or Inspection, attach the proposed subpoena to that notice, and wait. The clerk issues the subpoena only when 15 days have run from service of the notice. Any person or party who serves an objection inside 10 days stops it: the rule says the subpoena shall not issue. That front-loaded step is the single biggest planning difference between an Alabama records subpoena and a subpoena for live testimony, which the clerk issues on request with no waiting period. The money side of an Alabama subpoena is unusual in the opposite direction. Section 12-19-131(a) of the Code of Alabama still allows a civil witness $1.50 per day, plus $.05 per mile for each mile to and from their residence by the usual traveled route, and all necessary ferriage and tolls of turnpikes and toll bridges. Those amounts trace back to Code 1852 and have never been modernized. Alabama does not make you hand the money over at service unless you are commanding attendance more than 100 miles from the witness's residence (Rule 45(b)(1)). Instead the clerk certifies the days attended afterward, and Section 12-19-133 lets an unpaid witness refuse to come back in the same case. DocDraft assembles your Alabama subpoena from your own facts, with attorney review available before anything is served.
Key Things to Know
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An Alabama subpoena is a court order, issued by the clerk in a pending circuit or district court case, that commands a named person to attend and give testimony, to produce documents or electronically stored information, or to permit an inspection of premises (Ala. R. Civ. P. 45(a)(1)).
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The clerk issues an Alabama subpoena to the party requesting it. There is no attorney-issuance route, and the Committee Comments confirm that unlike the federal rule, Rule 45(a) does not permit issuance of subpoenas in blank.
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An Alabama subpoena for production or inspection issues only after a Notice of Intent to Serve Subpoena, with the proposed subpoena attached, has been served on every other party and 15 days have run (Rule 45(a)(3)(A)). An objection served inside 10 days blocks issuance (Rule 45(a)(3)(B)).
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Once issued, an Alabama records subpoena must give the recipient a reasonable time to comply of no less than 15 days after service unless the court orders otherwise (Rule 45(a)(3)(C)).
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The Alabama civil witness fee is $1.50 per day plus $.05 per mile for each mile to and from the witness's residence by the usual traveled route, together with all necessary ferriage and tolls of turnpikes and toll bridges (Ala. Code Section 12-19-131(a)).
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You tender one day's attendance fee and mileage at the moment of service only if the Alabama subpoena commands attendance more than 100 miles from the person's residence (Rule 45(b)(1)). Otherwise the clerk certifies the amount owed after the witness attends.
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Alabama publishes Sample Civil Form 51A, Civil Subpoena for Production of Documents, Etc., Under Rule 45, and Rule 45(a)(1)(D) requires every Alabama subpoena to reprint the text of subdivisions (c) and (d) of the rule.
Key decisions before you file
Before you file a Subpoena in Alabama, a few decisions shape the document: which option to choose and what each one means. The Subpoena guide walks through them.
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Alabama Requirements for Subpoena
Notice of Intent 15 Days Before Issuance
Before an Alabama subpoena for production or inspection can issue, the requesting party must serve every other party with a Notice of Intent to Serve Subpoena, attach the proposed subpoena, and let fifteen (15) days run (Ala. R. Civ. P. 45(a)(3)(A)). The court may set a shorter or longer period.
Objection Within 10 Days Blocks Issuance
Any person or party may serve an objection within ten (10) days of the notice of intent, and in that event the Alabama subpoena shall not issue (Ala. R. Civ. P. 45(a)(3)(B)). The party who served the notice must then move for an order under Rule 37(a).
Witness Fee of $1.50 a Day
Alabama allows a civil witness $1.50 per day, whether the witness attends under subpoena or at the request of the party (Ala. Code Section 12-19-131(a)). The figure dates from the Code 1852 fee schedule and has not been raised in the modern Code.
Mileage at 5 Cents, Plus Ferriage and Tolls
Alabama pays $.05 per mile for each mile to and from the witness's residence by the usual traveled route, and adds all necessary ferriage and tolls of turnpikes and toll bridges (Ala. Code Section 12-19-131(a)). The mileage is computed both ways, not one way.
Tender Only Beyond 100 Miles
Fees for one day's attendance and mileage reimbursement must be tendered at service only when the Alabama subpoena commands attendance more than 100 miles from the person's residence (Ala. R. Civ. P. 45(b)(1)). Inside that radius, payment runs through the clerk after attendance.
Clerk Issues, Never in Blank
The clerk shall issue an Alabama subpoena to the party requesting it (Ala. R. Civ. P. 45(a)(3)). There is no attorney-issuance route, and the Committee Comments state that unlike the federal rule, Rule 45(a) does not permit issuance of subpoenas in blank. Rule 45(dc) applies the rule in district courts too.
Clerk's Certificate of Attendance
After trial, continuance or discharge, the clerk must give the witness a certificate of the days attended and the sum due for attendance, travel, ferriage and tolls, and the witness must prove attendance within five days (Ala. Code Section 12-19-132). An unpaid witness who demanded the fees need not appear again in the same civil case (Section 12-19-133).
Sample Civil Form 51A and the Reprint Rule
Alabama publishes Sample Civil Form 51A, Civil Subpoena for Production of Documents, Etc., Under Rule 45. Rule 45(a)(1)(D) also requires every Alabama subpoena to set forth the text of subdivisions (c) and (d) of the rule on its face.