To subpoena police records in California in a civil case, you complete a Deposition Subpoena for Production of Business Records (Judicial Council form SUBP-010), give advance written notice to any person whose information appears in the records, serve the law enforcement agency’s Custodian of Records, and pay the agency’s statutory production costs. Miss a deadline or skip the notice step and the subpoena is void, so the sequence matters as much as the paperwork.
Before you file anything, decide whether you actually need a subpoena. A California Public Records Act request is faster, free of court filings, and works for basic incident information and for the officer misconduct categories that SB 1421 made public: shootings, uses of force causing death or great bodily injury, and sustained findings of sexual assault, dishonesty, or excessive force.1California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 832.7 The CPRA broadly exempts investigatory files, though,2California Legislative Information. California Government Code 7923.600 so if you need the underlying incident report, witness statements, or dispatch materials in active investigations, a subpoena is the tool.
Filling Out the Subpoena Form
Use SUBP-010, the Deposition Subpoena for Production of Business Records.3California Courts. Deposition Subpoena for Production of Business Records It orders the agency to deliver records to a registered photocopier or make them available for copying, so no one from the department has to appear.
Fill in the full case caption, then name the law enforcement agency and its Custodian of Records. Pick a production date carefully. It cannot be earlier than 20 days after the subpoena is issued or 15 days after service on the agency, whichever is later. When the records contain personal information about an individual, the production date must be at least 30 days out.4California Courts. Subpoena Business Records Police records almost always involve someone’s personal information, so plan on 30 days.
Describe the records narrowly. Broad requests like “all reports related to the defendant” invite objections. Tie your request to specific document types and a specific incident: the incident report, supplemental reports, dispatch logs, and body-worn camera footage logs for a named case number, date, and time range. The completed form must be issued by the court clerk or an attorney of record before it is enforceable.
Notifying the Person Whose Records Are Sought
When police records contain personal information about a specific person, you have to give that person written notice before the agency can release anything. CCP 1985.4 applies the consumer notice procedures of CCP 1985.3 to records held by state and local agencies,5California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 1985.4 and the notice form is SUBP-025.6California Courts. Notice to Consumer or Employee and Objection
The deadlines are strict and sequential. Serve the notice on the individual at least 10 days before the production date, and at least five days before you serve the subpoena on the department’s records custodian.7California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 1985.3 If you serve by mail, add mailing time under CCP 1013. Serving the agency before the person has had enough notice voids the subpoena.
Along with the notice, include a copy of the subpoena and any supporting declaration. File a proof of service showing you complied. Without that filed proof, the custodian will not release the records.
Serving the Agency and Paying Production Costs
Once the notice requirements are satisfied, you can serve the subpoena on the department. Service has to be done by someone at least 18 years old who is not a party to the case. Registered process servers are the norm. The subpoena must be personally delivered to the Custodian of Records or the department’s designated agent for legal process.
Bring the production costs with you. Under Evidence Code 1563, the party issuing the subpoena pays all reasonable production costs: 10 cents per page for standard copies, 20 cents per page for microfilm reproductions, and up to $24 per hour in clerical time for locating and preparing records, billed in quarter-hour increments at $6 each. You also cover actual postage and any retrieval charges for offsite storage.8California Legislative Information. California Evidence Code 1563
After service, the server completes and signs the proof of service on the form. File it with the court and give a copy to the deposition officer who will receive the records.
Body-Worn Camera Footage and Timing
Body camera recordings come with a retention clock that can run out before you act. California agencies operating body cameras must adopt written retention policies. Non-evidentiary footage — routine recordings not tied to an arrest, use of force, or complaint — has a 60-day minimum retention period, after which the agency may delete it. Evidentiary footage connected to a use of force, an arrest, or a complaint must be kept for at least two years.9California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 832.18
If your footage is routine, the department can lawfully destroy it before you get your subpoena filed. Send a written preservation demand as soon as you know you’ll want the recording, and issue the subpoena as early as possible. Expect redactions when footage is released: bystander faces, license plates, visible documents, minors’ identifying details, and portions filmed inside private residences are commonly obscured or withheld. Asking for the footage logs alongside the video helps you spot missing segments.
When the Department Objects or Ignores You
Departments push back on subpoenas often. The usual response is a motion to quash under CCP 1987.1, filed by the agency, a party, or the person whose records are at stake, arguing that the request is oppressive, invasive of privacy, or reaches privileged material.10California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 1987.1 Agencies also lean on the official information privilege in Evidence Code 1040, which requires the court to balance the need for confidentiality against the need for disclosure.11California Legislative Information. California Evidence Code 1040
If the person served with a SUBP-025 notice files a written objection, you have 20 days to bring an enforcement motion under CCP 1987.1. That motion must include a declaration showing a good-faith attempt to resolve the dispute informally first.7California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 1985.3 If the department simply ignores the subpoena and no one objects, you file a motion to compel. Courts often review disputed records privately in chambers before deciding what gets released, redacted, or withheld.
If the court orders production and the agency still refuses, the judge can impose monetary sanctions. Courts can also award reasonable expenses, including attorney’s fees, when a motion to quash or compel was brought or opposed in bad faith or without substantial justification.12California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 1987.2
Officer Personnel Files Need a Pitchess Motion
A standard subpoena will not get you an officer’s personnel file, complaint history, or disciplinary records. California treats peace officer personnel records as confidential, and they are only reachable through a Pitchess motion.1California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 832.7 If you serve a regular subpoena for these files, the agency will refuse and direct you to the Pitchess process.
A Pitchess motion is a written motion filed with the court and served on the agency that holds the records. It must identify the officer, the agency, the records sought, and the hearing date, and it must include a supporting declaration showing good cause: a specific explanation of why the records are relevant to your case and your reasonable belief that the agency has them.13California Legislative Information. California Evidence Code 1043 In a criminal case, the notice must be served at least 10 court days before the hearing. If the court finds good cause, it reviews the records in chambers and releases what it finds relevant under a protective order limiting use to the current proceeding.14California Legislative Information. California Evidence Code 1045 Drafting a good cause declaration well is difficult without a lawyer.
Criminal Cases Follow a Different Track
The process above governs civil litigation. Criminal subpoenas run under Penal Code 1326 and can be signed by the magistrate or court clerk, the district attorney or their investigator, the public defender or their investigator, or the defense attorney of record.15California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 1326 Court clerks must issue blank subpoenas to any defendant who asks for them at no charge.
When a criminal subpoena seeks business records from a third party, the custodian delivers the records in a sealed package to the court clerk rather than to a private deposition officer. If the subpoena asks for records about someone other than the person being subpoenaed, the court can hold a private hearing to decide whether the defense is entitled to the documents before anyone else sees them. The court cannot hand those records to the prosecution unless the reciprocal discovery rules require it. Officer personnel records still require a Pitchess motion, even in a criminal case.