North Carolina Subpoena
North Carolina lets a sheriff serve a witness subpoena by telephone, requires the document to print the witness's own protections, and pays $5.00 a day under G.S. 7A-314. Attorney review available.
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Introduction
North Carolina is the state where a subpoena can be served over the phone. Rule 45(b)(1) of the North Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure provides that service of a subpoena for the attendance of a witness only may also be made by telephone communication with the person named therein, and only by a sheriff, the sheriff's designee who is not less than 18 years of age and is not a party, or a coroner. That shortcut is limited to attendance, so a records demand still gets delivered on paper. North Carolina also insists the paper do more work than most states ask of it: Rule 45(a)(1) requires every subpoena to state the protections of persons subject to subpoenas under subsection (c) and the requirements for responses under subsection (d). That is the practical reason to use the Administrative Office of the Courts form AOC-G-100, Rev. 2/18, which prints Rule 45(c) and (d) across side two. On money, the statutory fee is modest and the travel rule is where the real variation sits. G.S. 7A-314(a) entitles a witness under subpoena to five dollars ($5.00) per day, or fraction thereof, during attendance. Travel is not a cents figure in the statute at all: G.S. 7A-314(b) pays mileage at the rate currently authorized for State employees, and it pivots at 75 miles. Inside 75 miles of the place of appearance a witness is reimbursed for each day's round trip, while beyond 75 miles the witness gets one round trip and, if required to appear more than one day, lodging and meals in lieu of daily mileage. A former law-enforcement officer is in a class of their own at twenty dollars ($20.00) per hour. DocDraft builds your North Carolina subpoena from your own facts, with attorney review available.
Key Things to Know
- 1
A North Carolina subpoena is a command issued in a pending case that orders a person to attend and give testimony, or to produce and permit inspection and copying of designated records, books, papers, documents, electronically stored information or tangible things.
- 2
The North Carolina witness fee is five dollars ($5.00) per day, or fraction thereof, during attendance, and except for witnesses before the Judicial Standards Commission it must be certified to the clerk of superior court (G.S. 7A-314(a)).
- 3
A witness who is a former State, county or municipal law-enforcement officer is instead entitled to twenty dollars ($20.00) per hour, or fraction thereof, during attendance (G.S. 7A-314(a1)).
- 4
North Carolina sets no cents-per-mile figure for witnesses. G.S. 7A-314(b) pays mileage reimbursement at the rate currently authorized for State employees, so the figure is read from the State rate rather than from the subpoena statute.
- 5
The travel entitlement changes at 75 miles. A witness living outside the county of appearance but within 75 miles is reimbursed for each mile traveled from residence to the place of appearance and return, each day. Beyond 75 miles the witness gets one round trip, and if required to appear more than one day, lodging and meals up to the State employee maximum in lieu of daily mileage.
- 6
Every North Carolina subpoena must state on its face the protections of persons subject to subpoenas under Rule 45(c) and the requirements for responses under Rule 45(d), which is why AOC form AOC-G-100 prints both subsections on side two.
- 7
A subpoena for the attendance of a witness only may be served by telephone communication, but only by a sheriff, a sheriff's designee who is at least 18 and not a party, or a coroner (Rule 45(b)(1)).
Key decisions before you file
Before you file a Subpoena in North Carolina, 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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North Carolina Requirements for Subpoena
Witness Fee of $5.00 a Day
G.S. 7A-314(a) entitles a witness under subpoena, bound over, or recognized to five dollars ($5.00) per day, or fraction thereof, during attendance, which except as to witnesses before the Judicial Standards Commission must be certified to the clerk of superior court.
Former Law-Enforcement Officers at $20.00 an Hour
G.S. 7A-314(a1) entitles a witness who is a former State, county or municipal law-enforcement officer under subpoena to twenty dollars ($20.00) per hour, or fraction thereof, during attendance. A salaried serving officer is excluded from the ordinary witness fee subsection.
Mileage at the State Employee Rate, Not a Fixed Figure
G.S. 7A-314(b) pays witness travel at the rate currently authorized for State employees rather than at a cents figure written into the subpoena statute. G.S. 138-6(a)(1) is the State employee travel provision, and it contains both an Internal Revenue Service reference and a separate 25 cents per mile proviso for other laws that refer to it, so confirm the applicable figure before you tender.
The 75-Mile Travel Pivot
Under G.S. 7A-314(b)(1) a witness living outside the county of appearance but within 75 miles is reimbursed for each mile from residence to the place of appearance and return, each day. Under G.S. 7A-314(b)(2) a witness more than 75 miles out gets one round trip, plus lodging and meals up to the State employee maximum in lieu of daily mileage if required to appear more than one day.
Form AOC-G-100 Covers All Three Commands
AOC-G-100, SUBPOENA, Rev. 2/18, from the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts, carries check boxes to appear and testify before the court, to appear and testify at a deposition, and to produce and permit inspection and copying of listed items, and cites G.S. 1A-1, Rule 45 along with G.S. 8-59, -61, -63 and 15A-801, -802.
The Subpoena Must Print Rule 45(c) and (d)
Rule 45(a)(1) requires every North Carolina subpoena to state the protections of persons subject to subpoenas under subsection (c) and the requirements for responses under subsection (d). Form AOC-G-100 satisfies that by printing both subsections on side two, which is the strongest practical reason to use the AOC form.
Telephone Service, for Attendance Only
Rule 45(b)(1) permits service of a subpoena for the attendance of a witness only by telephone communication, and only by a sheriff, the sheriff's designee who is not less than 18 years of age and is not a party, or a coroner. A copy of the subpoena must still be served on each party under Rule 5(b).
Ten Days to Object, Contempt for Ignoring It
Rule 45(c)(3) allows a written objection within 10 days after service, or before the compliance time if that is sooner, and Rule 45(c)(5) applies the same window to a motion to quash or modify. Rule 45(e) provides that failure by any person without adequate excuse to obey a subpoena may be deemed a contempt of court.