Texas Subpoena
Texas pays a $10 daily witness fee and expressly no mileage at all, tendered when the subpoena is served, with a 150-mile outer limit on where a person can be made to appear. Attorney review available.
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Introduction
Texas is the state where the mileage column is empty on purpose. Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 22.001(a) gives a witness 10 dollars for each day the witness attends court, then adds that this fee includes the entitlement for travel and the witness is not entitled to any reimbursement for mileage traveled. Nothing else is owed for the drive, however far it is, which makes Texas the cheapest state in the country to serve and the most likely to produce an argument with a witness who assumed mileage was automatic. The ten dollars is not optional and it is not deferred: Section 22.001(b) requires the summoning party to pay one day of it at the time the subpoena is served, and Rule 176.8(b) blocks any fine or attachment for noncompliance unless an affidavit proves the fees were paid or tendered. Distance is capped instead of priced. Rule 176.3(a) says a person may not be required by subpoena to appear or produce in a county more than 150 miles from where the person resides or is served, and Section 22.002 frames the same radius from the statute side. Three different people can issue a Texas subpoena: the clerk of the district, county, or justice court, a Texas-licensed attorney acting as an officer of the court, or an officer authorized to take depositions. Texas does not hand you a numbered statewide form; Rule 176.1 gives a contents checklist instead, starting with issuance in the name of The State of Texas. DocDraft assembles your Texas subpoena against that checklist, with attorney review available before you serve it.
Key Things to Know
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A Texas subpoena is a command issued in the name of The State of Texas that requires a person to attend and give testimony at a deposition, hearing, or trial, to produce documents or tangible things, or both, under Rule 176 of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure.
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The Texas witness fee is 10 dollars for each day the witness attends court (Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 22.001(a)).
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Texas provides no mileage at all. The same subsection states that the fee includes the entitlement for travel and the witness is not entitled to any reimbursement for mileage traveled, so there is no rate to calculate.
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The party who summons the witness must pay one day of the fee at the time the subpoena is served (Section 22.001(b)), and service itself means delivering a copy and tendering any fees required by law (Rule 176.5(a)).
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No person can be made to appear or produce in a county more than 150 miles from where that person lives or was served (Rule 176.3(a)), and Section 22.002 states the same 150-mile reach for who may be subpoenaed at all.
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A Texas subpoena can come from the clerk of the district, county, or justice court, from a Texas-licensed attorney acting as an officer of the court, or from an officer authorized to take depositions (Rule 176.4).
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To pull documents from a nonparty, the Rule 205.3 notice must be served at least 10 days before the subpoena compelling production is served (Rule 205.2), and the whole package must go out no later than 30 days before the discovery period ends (Rule 205.3(a)).
Key decisions before you file
Before you file a Subpoena in Texas, 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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Texas Requirements for Subpoena
Witness Fee of $10 a Day
A Texas witness is entitled to 10 dollars for each day the witness attends court, and the fee is taxed in the bill of costs as other costs (Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 22.001). A witness summoned by a state agency instead receives one dollar a day under Section 22.003.
No Mileage Reimbursement at All
Section 22.001(a) states that the daily fee includes the entitlement for travel and that the witness is not entitled to any reimbursement for mileage traveled. There is no Texas rate to compute and no distance at which the payment increases. Budget the ten dollars and nothing more.
Pay One Day of Fees at Service
The party who summons the witness shall pay that witness fee for one day at the time the subpoena is served (Section 22.001(b)), and Rule 176.5(a) defines service as delivering a copy to the witness and tendering any fees required by law. Rule 176.8(b) later bars a fine or attachment without affidavit proof that this happened.
Three Permitted Issuers
Rule 176.4 allows issuance by the clerk of the appropriate district, county, or justice court, by an attorney authorized to practice in the State of Texas acting as an officer of the court, or by an officer authorized to take depositions in Texas. A clerk issuing one must supply an original plus a copy for each witness.
150-Mile Outer Limit
A person may not be required by subpoena to appear or produce in a county more than 150 miles from where the person resides or is served (Rule 176.3(a)), and Section 22.002 states the same 150-mile reach for who may be subpoenaed. This is Texas law, not the federal 100-mile rule.
Contents Checklist Instead of a Numbered Form
Texas prescribes no single statewide fill-in subpoena. Rule 176.1 requires that every subpoena issue in the name of The State of Texas and carry the style and cause number, the court, the date of issuance, the person commanded, the time, place, and nature of the action required, the requesting party and that party attorney of record, the text of Rule 176.8(a), and the issuer signature.
Nonparty Records: 10 Days of Notice First
A notice to produce documents or tangible things from a nonparty under Rule 205.3 must be served at least 10 days before the subpoena compelling production is served (Rule 205.2), and the package must go out no later than 30 days before the discovery period ends (Rule 205.3(a)). Where another nonparty medical or mental health records are sought, that person must also be served with the notice (Rule 205.3(c)).
Contempt, but Only if Fees Were Tendered
Failure without adequate excuse to obey a Texas subpoena may be deemed contempt of the issuing court or of a district court in the county of service, punishable by fine or confinement or both (Rule 176.8(a)). No fine may be imposed and no witness attached without affidavit proof that all fees due the witness by law were paid or tendered (Rule 176.8(b)).