Maine Subpoena
Maine makes the calling party pay, and nobody owes attendance until travel plus one day is paid or tendered. The rates are $10 a day and 22 cents a mile, both ways. Attorney review available.
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Introduction
Maine hands the bill to the party who wants the testimony and then makes payment a precondition of the witness's duty. Title 16, Section 251 sets the rates at $10 for each day's attendance and 22 cents a mile for each mile's travel going and returning home, and it says plainly that the party calling the witness shall pay the witness. Section 253 supplies the teeth: no person is obliged to attend any court as a witness in a civil action, or at any place to have a deposition taken, unless the legal fees for travel to and from the place and for one day's attendance are first paid or tendered. A witness can also insist on being paid forward, since fees for each subsequent day's attendance must be paid at the close of the preceding day if the witness requests it. That changes how you plan a Maine subpoena: the tender is not a courtesy that improves your odds, it is what creates the obligation. Issuance is flexible. The clerk hands a party a subpoena signed but otherwise in blank to complete before service, and an attorney admitted to the Maine Bar may issue and sign one as officer of the court (Rule 45(a)(3)). Discovery subpoenas carry their own clock: prior notice of commanded production goes to each party at least 14 days before the response date, and a party then has 7 days to object and get a ruling (Rule 45(b)(1)). DocDraft prepares your Maine subpoena from your facts, and attorney review is available before service.
Key Things to Know
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A Maine subpoena is a court order in a pending civil action commanding a named person to attend and give testimony, to produce and permit inspection and copying of designated books, documents or tangible things, or to permit inspection of premises in that person's possession, custody or control.
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Maine pays $10 for each day's attendance and 22 cents a mile for each mile's travel going and returning home, and the party calling the witness shall pay the witness (16 M.R.S. Section 251). Law enforcement officers testifying in their official capacity are carved out of the section.
- 3
No person is obliged to attend as a witness in a civil action, or to have a deposition taken, unless the legal fees for travel and for one day's attendance are first paid or tendered. Fees for each later day must be paid at the close of the preceding day if the witness asks (16 M.R.S. Section 253).
- 4
The clerk issues a Maine subpoena signed but otherwise in blank to a party who requests it, and that party completes it before service. An attorney admitted to the Maine Bar may also issue and sign one as officer of the court (Rule 45(a)(3)).
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A Maine subpoena may be served by any person who is not a party and is not less than 18 years of age, including the attorney of a party, and may be served at any place within the state (Rule 45(b)(1) and (b)(2)).
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Prior notice of commanded production of documents, inspection of premises or the appearance of a witness in discovery or pretrial proceedings must be served on each party at least 14 days before the response date, and a party has 7 days to object and arrange for the court to decide the objection (Rule 45(b)(1)).
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No more than $10 per day may be allowed or taxed by the clerk of courts in the costs of a civil action for the per diem attendance of a witness unless the expert-witness affidavit is filed and the presiding justice determines and allows the per diem (16 M.R.S. Section 251).
Key decisions before you file
Before you file a Subpoena in Maine, 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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Maine Requirements for Subpoena
Attendance Fee of $10 a Day
Witnesses other than law enforcement officers testifying in their official capacity receive $10 for each day of attendance in the Supreme Judicial Court, the Superior Court, the District Court or the Probate Court, and before referees, auditors, specially appointed commissioners and county commissioners, unless the court orders otherwise (16 M.R.S. Section 251).
Mileage at 22 Cents a Mile, Going and Returning Home
Maine pays 22 cents a mile for each mile of travel going and returning home (16 M.R.S. Section 251). It is a flat statutory cents figure computed on the round trip to the witness home, not a floating administrative rate and not a one-way calculation.
The Calling Party Pays the Witness
The party calling the witness shall pay the witness (16 M.R.S. Section 251). There is no clerk-held deposit to fund and no court disbursement to arrange. Payments to witnesses called on behalf of the State come from the county treasury on the authorization of the prosecuting attorney unless otherwise directed by law.
No Duty to Attend Until Fees Are Paid or Tendered
No person is obliged to attend any court as a witness in a civil action, or at any place to have a deposition taken, unless the legal fees for travel to and from the place and for one day of attendance are first paid or tendered (16 M.R.S. Section 253). Fees for each later day must be paid at the close of the preceding day if the witness requests it.
Clerk Issues a Blank, or a Maine Bar Attorney Signs
The clerk issues a subpoena signed but otherwise in blank to a party requesting it, who completes it before service, and an attorney admitted to the Maine Bar may issue and sign one as officer of the court (Rule 45(a)(3)). A Superior Court subpoena may issue from the court in any county, and a District Court subpoena from the court in any district (Rule 45(a)(2)).
14 Days Prior Notice, 7 Days for a Party to Object
Prior notice of commanded production of documents and things, inspection of premises, or the appearance of a witness in discovery or pretrial proceedings must be served on each party under Rule 5(b) at least 14 days before the response date in the subpoena, and a party has 7 days to object and arrange for the court to determine the objection (Rule 45(b)(1)).
Deposition Travel: County Line or 100 Miles, Whichever Is Greater
On timely motion the court shall quash or modify a subpoena requiring a Maine resident who is not a party or an officer of a party to travel to a deposition outside the county where that person resides, is employed or transacts business in person, or more than 100 miles one way, whichever is greater, unless the court orders otherwise. For a nonresident the line is the county of service or 100 miles from the place of service (Rule 45(c)(3)(A)(ii)).
Contempt Under Rule 66 and 16 M.R.S. Section 102
Failure without adequate excuse to obey a subpoena may be deemed a contempt of the court in which the action is pending or of the county in which the deposition is taken, punished under Rule 66 and 16 M.R.S. Section 102. Adequate cause for failure exists where the subpoena purports to require a nonparty to attend or produce beyond the Rule 45(c)(3)(A)(ii) limits (Rule 45(f)).