Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 45: Subpoenas, Service, and Compliance

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 45 is the rule that governs subpoenas in federal civil lawsuits. It defines what a subpoena can order a non-party to do, what the document itself must contain, how far a witness can be required to travel, how to push back if the demand is improper, and what happens if either side crosses the line. A subpoena issued under Rule 45 is a court order, not a request, and ignoring it can lead to contempt.¹

What a Rule 45 Subpoena Can Command

Rule 45 covers two kinds of commands. One compels a person to appear and testify at a deposition, hearing, or trial. The other compels a person to produce documents, electronically stored information, or tangible items, or to permit inspection of premises. A single subpoena can do both, so you might be ordered to sit for a deposition and to bring specified records with you.¹

The rule applies to federal civil cases. State-court subpoenas and federal criminal subpoenas run on different tracks and are not governed by Rule 45.

What Must Appear on a Valid Subpoena

A subpoena has to identify the issuing court, the case title, and the civil action number. It has to tell you exactly what you are being asked to do, and when and where you need to do it.¹

If the subpoena demands documents or electronically stored information, the request has to describe the items with enough detail that you can tell what is being asked for. Vague or open-ended demands are a standard ground for objection.

Every subpoena must also set out the full text of Rule 45(d) and (e), which spell out the recipient’s rights and duties. The official court forms attach the sections on geographic limits and contempt as well.¹ A subpoena that arrives without these disclosures is worth reviewing with an attorney.

Who Issues It, and How It Gets Served

A subpoena must come from the court where the lawsuit is pending. The clerk will issue a signed but otherwise blank subpoena to any party who asks, and the party then fills it out before serving it. Attorneys admitted to practice in the issuing court can sign and issue subpoenas directly, and in federal practice most subpoenas are attorney-issued.¹

Before a subpoena for pretrial document production or premises inspection goes out, the issuing party must serve a notice and a copy on every other party in the case. That way all sides know what discovery is being pursued from non-parties.¹

The subpoena can be served anywhere in the United States, but only by someone at least 18 years old who is not a party. Service means physically delivering a copy to the named person.¹

Witness Fees at the Time of Service

When a subpoena requires personal appearance for a deposition, hearing, or trial, the server must also hand the recipient one day’s attendance fee and mileage at the time of service. The federal attendance fee is $40 per day.² Mileage tracks the General Services Administration rate for privately owned vehicles, which is $0.725 per mile as of January 2026.³

One exception: when the subpoena is issued on behalf of the United States or its officers or agents, the attendance fee and mileage do not have to be tendered at service.⁴

The 100-Mile Rule and Other Geographic Limits

Rule 45 caps how far a non-party can be required to travel. For testimony at a deposition, hearing, or trial, the place of compliance must be within 100 miles of where the person lives, is employed, or regularly transacts business in person. A person can also be commanded to attend trial anywhere within the state where they live, work, or regularly transact business, even if that location is farther than 100 miles.⁵

Document production uses the same 100-mile ceiling, measured from the recipient’s home, workplace, or regular place of business. Premises inspections happen at the premises themselves, so the geographic limit does not apply the same way.⁵

A subpoena that reaches past these limits is subject to mandatory quash. This is where many improperly drafted subpoenas fail.

How To Comply

Once you have been properly served, you have to follow the commands unless you have valid grounds to object.

If the subpoena calls for documents, you can either produce them as they are kept in the ordinary course of business, or organize and label them to correspond with the categories in the demand. Either method works; the point is that the requesting party can make sense of what arrives.¹

If your subpoena commands only production or inspection and does not also command testimony, you do not need to appear in person. Records can be shipped, and premises can be made available, without your personal attendance.¹

Where some of the requested materials are covered by attorney-client privilege, work-product protection, or another recognized privilege, you don’t have to hand them over, but you can’t simply omit them silently. You must claim the privilege expressly and describe the withheld items in enough detail for the parties to evaluate the claim without revealing the protected content.

How To Object or Move To Quash

If a subpoena is improper, overbroad, or unreasonably burdensome, Rule 45 gives you two tools.

Written Objection

For subpoenas seeking documents or premises inspection, you can serve a written objection on the party or attorney who issued it. The deadline is the earlier of the compliance date in the subpoena or 14 days after service.¹ A timely written objection suspends your duty to produce anything until the issuing party goes to court and gets an order compelling production. That pause often forces a negotiation before anyone files a motion.

Motion To Quash or Modify

A motion to quash or modify is filed in the district where compliance is required. The court must grant it if the subpoena:

fails to allow a reasonable time to comply;
requires compliance beyond the geographic limits of Rule 45(c);
requires disclosure of privileged or otherwise protected material and no exception or waiver applies; or
subjects the recipient to undue burden.

Those four grounds are mandatory. If any applies, the court has no discretion to leave the subpoena in place.¹

The court also has discretion to quash or modify a subpoena that demands trade secrets, other confidential commercial information, or the opinions of an expert who was not retained for the litigation, unless the requesting party shows a substantial need and the court can put an adequate protective order in place.¹

Non-Party Protections and Cost-Shifting

Rule 45 treats non-parties more protectively than the general discovery rules treat the parties themselves. The party or attorney responsible for issuing a subpoena has an affirmative duty to take reasonable steps to avoid imposing undue burden or expense on the person served. Courts enforce that duty, and available sanctions include the recipient’s lost earnings and reasonable attorney’s fees.¹

When a court orders a non-party to comply over objection, it must also protect the person from significant compliance expenses. In practice, that often means the requesting party covers copying, data retrieval, or employee time spent gathering records.¹

Transferring a Subpoena Dispute

Because subpoenas are enforced in the district where compliance is required, disputes sometimes reach a court that has no familiarity with the underlying lawsuit. Rule 45(f) lets the compliance court transfer a subpoena-related motion to the court where the case is pending, either with the recipient’s consent or on a finding of exceptional circumstances.¹

Transfer matters most when the dispute turns on case-specific issues, such as whether the requested documents are relevant to the claims or whether a discovery deadline has passed. If the motion is transferred, the recipient’s attorney can still file and appear before the issuing court as an officer of that court, even without separate admission there.

Contempt and Sanctions

A person who has been properly served and fails to comply without adequate excuse can be held in contempt. Contempt authority sits with the court in the district where compliance is required, and also with the issuing court if the motion has been transferred under Rule 45(f).¹

Civil contempt sanctions are designed to force compliance rather than to punish, so they typically take the form of daily fines that accumulate until the person obeys, or in serious cases, confinement until compliance. “Adequate excuse” leaves courts some room. Trying in good faith and being unable to locate the requested records is different from ignoring the subpoena. The bar is high, and hoping the other side moves on is not a workable plan.

Sanctions run the other direction too. A party or attorney who imposes undue burden through a subpoena can be ordered to pay the recipient’s lost earnings and reasonable attorney’s fees.¹

1
Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 45 – Subpoena
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1821 – Per Diem and Mileage Generally
3
General Services Administration. Privately Owned Vehicle (POV) Mileage Reimbursement Rates
4
United States Courts. AO 88B – Subpoena to Produce Documents, Information, or Objects or to Permit Inspection of Premises in a Civil Action
5
Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 45 – Subpoena – Section: (c) Place of Compliance