North Dakota Subpoena

Introduction

Key Things to Know

1. 1

   A North Dakota subpoena is the process used to require a non-party to attend and testify at a deposition, hearing or trial, to produce documents, electronically stored information or tangible things, or to permit inspection of premises.

2. 2

   A self-represented North Dakota litigant cannot issue one. The courts' Legal Self Help Center states that only a Clerk of Court or a lawyer for a party can issue a subpoena in a civil case.

3. 3

   The North Dakota witness attendance fee is twenty-five dollars for each day necessarily in attendance before the district court or any other board or tribunal, except municipal court (N.D.C.C. 31-01-16(1)(a)).

4. 4

   North Dakota pays travel at the reimbursement rates provided for state employees rather than a witness-specific cents figure, and N.D.C.C. 54-06-09(1)(c) requires that state rate to track the rate the United States general services administration establishes for privately owned vehicles.

5. 5

   The Clerk of Court charges $20.00 to issue a subpoena in a North Dakota civil case, and the initiating document must be filed with a case number assigned first.

6. 6

   Tender is a condition of obedience. Rule 45(b)(1)(B) provides that if fees, mileage and travel expense are not tendered with the subpoena, the person need not obey it, unless the state or a political subdivision will pay them.

7. 7

   A North Dakota subpoena that commands only pretrial or prehearing production or inspection must carry the Rule 45(f) notice verbatim, telling the recipient that an objection must be received within ten days after receipt, or at least 24 hours before the compliance time if that time is shorter.

North Dakota Requirements for Subpoena

• Only a Clerk or a Lawyer May Issue It

  The North Dakota courts' Legal Self Help Center states that a self-represented party cannot issue a subpoena on their own, and that only a Clerk of Court or a lawyer for a party can issue one in a civil case. Rule 45(a)(2) has the clerk issue it in the name of the court for the county where the action is filed, signed but otherwise blank.

• Clerk's $20.00 Issuance Fee

  The Legal Self Help Center guide states that the Clerk of Court charges a $20.00 fee for issuing a subpoena in a North Dakota civil case. That cost sits on top of whatever the witness is owed, and nothing issues until the initiating document is filed and a case number assigned.

• Witness Fee of Twenty-Five Dollars a Day

  N.D.C.C. 31-01-16(1)(a) entitles a witness in a civil or criminal case to a sum of twenty-five dollars for each day necessarily in attendance before the district court or before any other board or tribunal, except municipal court.

• Mileage Indexed to the State Employee Rate

  N.D.C.C. 31-01-16(1)(b) gives a sum for mileage and travel expense reimbursement equal to the reimbursement rates provided for state employees, and N.D.C.C. 54-06-09(1)(c) requires the office of management and budget to set that reimbursement at the same rate established by the United States general services administration for privately owned vehicles. Look up the current rate rather than a figure in the witness statute.

• Municipal Court Runs on a City Scale

  N.D.C.C. 31-01-16.2 has the governing body of the city set witness compensation for municipal court, but provides that in no instance may compensation be more than twenty-five dollars, or less than five dollars, for each day necessarily spent in municipal court.

• No Tender, No Duty to Obey

  Rule 45(b)(1)(B) requires fees for one day's attendance, mileage and travel expense to be tendered where the subpoena requires attendance, and states that if they are not tendered with the subpoena, the person need not obey it. Tender is unnecessary where the state or a political subdivision will pay.

• Notice to Each Party Before the Subpoena Is Served

  Rule 45(b)(2)(C) requires the notice under Rule 45(b)(2)(A) and (B) to be served on each party under Rule 5(b) before a subpoena for a pretrial deposition, pretrial production, or inspection of premises may be served. It fixes a sequence rather than a waiting period.

• The Rule 45(f) Notice Must Appear on the Subpoena

  Rule 45(f) requires any subpoena commanding only pretrial or prehearing production or inspection to carry a verbatim notice telling the recipient that an objection must be received within ten days after receipt, or at least 24 hours before the compliance time if that time is less than ten days, and that failure to obey without a timely objection may be contempt of court.