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Out of State Subpoena

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marktb

Junior Member
What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? Iowa

Received subpoena from texas to provide written answers to several questions involving a civil case (will take a lot of time).Don't want to waste my time. Do I have to obey an out of state subpoena from Texas?
 


JETX

Senior Member
marktb said:
Received subpoena from texas to provide written answers to several questions involving a civil case (will take a lot of time).Don't want to waste my time. Do I have to obey an out of state subpoena from Texas?
Nope. You are beyond the jurisdictional reach of the Texas courts.
 
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meganproser

Guest

Received subpoena from texas


“From” Texas? As in, it was mailed to you from Texas or as in, the Court named in the heading, is located in Texas?

is to provide written answers to several questions involving a civil case (will take a lot of time)

Are we correct in assuming you are a witness rather than a party?

Do I have to obey an out of state subpoena from Texas?

Even if the subpoena was issued from a Texas court, you would be wise to check with someone in an Iowa court before ignoring it. There is something called the Uniform Foreign Depositions Act which could require you to obey the subpoena but I don’t know if Iowa has adopted the Act or not.

Let us know what you find out! :)
 

racer72

Senior Member
If someone had taken the time to read the UFDA and how it is applied, she would have noticed 2 things.
1. Iowa is not a member of the UFDA.
2. The subpoena must come from a court within the person's home district. And the lawyer that asks for the subpoena must be licensed to practice in the said district.

Based on this, the OP can do as JETX suggested.
 

JETX

Senior Member
meganproser said:
Even if the subpoena was issued from a Texas court, you would be wise to check with someone in an Iowa court before ignoring it. There is something called the Uniform Foreign Depositions Act which could require you to obey the subpoena but I don’t know if Iowa has adopted the Act or not.
Gee, wouldn't you think the fact that this is a SUBPOENA "o provide written answers" would NOT be a DEPOSITION (and therefore not subject to the UFDA)??
 
M

meganproser

Guest
If someone had taken the time to read the UFDA and how it is applied, she would have noticed 2 things.

I would have to take the time to read IOWA’s UFDA related statute or go through their Rules of Civil Procedure, because each state adopts it’s own version of the Act. I did a brief search and could not find any current info on Iowa’s Rules of Civil Procedure, hence my advice to check with the Iowa
court.

1. Iowa is not a member of the UFDA.

As I pointed out in my post, “I don’t know if Iowa has adopted the Act or not.”, I said this because I do NOT know Iowa’s current status regarding UFDA. Can you please provide a link to an up-dated list of participating states?

2. The subpoena must come from a court within the person's home district.

Which is why I attempted to clarify by asking:

“From” Texas? As in, it was mailed to you from Texas or as in, the Court named in the heading, is located in Texas?

And the lawyer that asks for the subpoena must be licensed to practice in the said district.

Not true. States use one of four different procedures for obtaining a subpoena from a foreign district. You have described the most stringent of the four procedures.

Based on this, the OP can do as JETX suggested.


I don’t think there is any state that will enforce a subpoena issued by another state but the laws are changing fast so I am inclined to err on the side of caution. I am not sure from OP’s post that the subpoena was actually issued by a Texas court. For these reasons, I asked OP for more information and suggested he check with an Iowa court before simply ignoring the subpoena.

JETX wrote: Gee, wouldn't you think the fact that this is a SUBPOENA "o provide written answers" would NOT be a DEPOSITION (and therefore not subject to the UFDA)??

It sounds to me like OP has received a subpoena requiring him to answer a deposition upon written questions.
 

marktb

Junior Member
Additional info

Subpeona was from Texas court. This was after the texas attorney tried to do his own (not from a judge). Also, the fine for not responding was crossed out. Received over the fax friday and need to submit by tuesday. It's for written questions concerning a civil case that I am not involved in but they wanted information I would consider immaterial & time consuming to answer but I am not an attorney.
 

JETX

Senior Member
meganproser said:
It sounds to me like OP has received a subpoena requiring him to answer a deposition upon written questions.
No such thing. You seem to be confusing a deposition with 'Interrogatories' or 'Request for Admissions'. They are WRITTEN questions to be answered.

To help you:
deposition
n. the taking and recording of testimony of a witness under oath before a court reporter in a place away from the courtroom before trial. A deposition is part of permitted pre-trial discovery (investigation), set up by an attorney for one of the parties to a lawsuit demanding the sworn testimony of the opposing party (defendant or plaintiff), a witness to an event, or an expert intended to be called at trial by the opposition. If the person requested to testify (deponent) is a party to the lawsuit or someone who works for an involved party, notice of time and place of the deposition can be given to the other side's attorney, but if the witness is an independent third party, a subpena must be served on him/her if he/she is reluctant to testify. The testimony is taken down by the court reporter, who will prepare a transcript if requested and paid for, which assists in trial preparation and can be used in trial either to contradict (impeach) or refresh the memory of the witness, or be read into the record if the witness is not available.


In any case, lets cut to the chase on this one. The answer is in the following rule from the 'Texas Rules for Civil Procedure':
176.3 Limitations.
(a) Range. A person may not be required by subpoena to appear or produce documents or other things in a county that is more than 150 miles from where the person resides or is served. However, a person whose appearance or production at a deposition may be compelled by notice alone under Rules 199.3 or 200.2 maybe required to appear and produce documents or other things at any location permitted under Rules 199.2(b)(2).
 
M

meganproser

Guest
This was after the texas attorney tried to do his own (not from a judge).

Huh?

Received over the fax friday and need to submit by tuesday.

Alrighty then, no matter where the heck it's from, you have not been given sufficient notice.

Is the case in Federal Court?

JETX, FRCP 31 addresses written deposition questions.
 

marktb

Junior Member
Additional info

Yes the first subpoena was directly from the attorney, not a court/judge.

This is not from a federal court. I know that I would have to respond to a federal subpoena.
 
Last edited:
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meganproser

Guest
Yes the first subpoena was directly from the attorney, not a court/judge.

What is different about THIS subpoena that makes you think it’s from a court or judge? Not that it matters...I’m just curious.

This is not from a federal court. I know that I would have to respond to a federal subpoena.

No, you only have to respond if the issuing USDC is within 100 miles of your home or business. :)
 

JETX

Senior Member
marktb said:
Yes the first subpoena was directly from the attorney, not a court/judge.
Perfectly acceptable. Again, from the 'Texas Rules for Civil Procedure':
Rule 176.4 Who May Issue.
A subpoena may be issued by:
(a) the clerk of the appropriate district, county, or justice court, who must provide the party requesting the subpoena with an original and a copy for each witness to be completed by the party;
(b) an attorney authorized to practice in the State of Texas, as an officer of the court; or
(c) an officer authorized to take depositions in this State, who must issue the subpoena immediately on a request accompanied by a notice to take a deposition under Rules 199 or 200, or a notice under Rule 205.3, and who may also serve the notice with the subpoena.
 

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