Alabama’s Uniform Interstate Depositions and Discovery Act has the subpoena submitted to the circuit clerk of the county where discovery is sought, who issues it with no court order; the Act requires no Alabama attorney. Served 123 LLC gets the subpoena issued and serves the witness.
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Every Alabama Order Includes
Skip tracing is available if the address turns out to be bad.
Every Alabama County
Served 123 LLC handles subpoena domestications in all 67 Alabama counties, and the clerk’s fee is included in your quote, whatever the county charges. The county finder and its clerk directory list each county’s circuit clerk’s office, with its address and a link to the clerk’s own site. In six Alabama counties, the circuit clerk keeps two offices in two different cities, and the directory lists both.
Records Subpoenas Go to the Same Clerk
Under the Act, a subpoena includes one requiring a person to produce books, documents, records or electronically stored information, so it goes to the same circuit clerk.
Alabama Subpoena Domestication Order
Our quote covers document preparation, the clerk’s fee and service if ordered.
From the out-of-state court to the Alabama witness, every stop below is set by the Alabama Act or Rule 45 of the Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure.
We confirm the Act covers your case: the state where it is pending must extend a similar privilege to persons in Alabama.
A subpoena issued by a court in another state, for a witness or records in Alabama, goes to the circuit clerk of the county where discovery is to be conducted.
The Alabama subpoena carries the foreign terms, the counsel list and the notice of the right to object.
Our non-party server delivers it to the witness or leaves it at home with a resident of suitable age and discretion, one of the ways Rule 45(b)(1) allows, tendering the fee when the rule requires it.
The server certifies a statement of the date, manner and person served.
Ala. Code § 12-21-402(c)(3) lets the witness object within 15 days of proper service. Days count under Rule 6(a), which § 12-21-404 applies.
The Alabama Uniform Interstate Depositions and Discovery Act (UIDDA), quoted from the Code of Alabama: where the foreign subpoena goes, what the clerk issues and the rules that govern it.
To request issuance of a subpoena under this section, a party must submit a foreign subpoena to a clerk of the circuit court in the county in which discovery is sought to be conducted in this state.
A request for the issuance of a subpoena under this article does not constitute an appearance in the courts of this state.
The privilege extended to persons in other states for discovery under this article shall only apply if the jurisdiction where the action is pending has extended a similar privilege to persons in this state.
A subpoena issued by a clerk of court under Section 12-21-402 must be served in compliance with Rule 45 of the Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure.
The Supreme Court of Alabama, in In re Omni Healthcare Financial, LLC, No. SC-2023-0027 (Ala. Dec. 15, 2023), read § 12-21-406 to direct courts to consider the need to promote uniformity of the law on interstate discovery, and to require that other states permit litigants in Alabama to obtain discovery from their residents.
Before the Act, In re National Contract Poultry Growers’ Ass’n, 771 So. 2d 466 (Ala. 2000), held that a subpoena for records located in Louisiana had to be issued by a Louisiana court and served under Louisiana law.
No reported Alabama appellate decision has yet interpreted Ala. Code §§ 12-21-401 to 12-21-405; the statute’s own text governs submission, issuance and service.
Official texts: Code of Alabama §§ 12-21-400 to 12-21-407, 12-19-131, 12-21-6 and 1-3-8; Ala. R. Civ. P. 6, Ala. R. Civ. P. 28 and Ala. R. Civ. P. 45. General information, not legal advice. The official text controls.
Served 123 LLC prepares the request the Act requires and has the Alabama subpoena served.
Get a Free Quote Online →Ala. Code § 12-21-403 requires service under Rule 45 of the Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure. The rules that matter, in short.
The sheriff or a deputy; any non-party 19 or older not related to the requesting party within the third degree; or certified mail or commercial carrier under Rule 4. Delivered in hand, or left at the witness’s home with a resident of suitable age and discretion.
Ala. Code § 12-21-403; Rule 45(b)(1)A protective order, or an application to enforce, quash or modify the subpoena, follows Alabama’s rules and goes to the circuit court of the discovery county. On timely motion, that court quashes or modifies on the grounds listed in Rule 45(c)(3)(A).
Ala. Code § 12-21-405; Rule 45(c)(3)(A)A person who is not a party or a party’s officer need not travel more than 100 miles: an Alabama resident counted from home, work or regular business, a nonresident from the place of service.
Rule 45(c)(3)(A)(ii)$1.50 a day and $.05 a mile to and from the residence. One day’s fee and mileage are tendered at service only when attendance is commanded more than 100 miles from the residence.
Ala. Code § 12-19-131(a); Rule 45(b)(1)Where proof is needed, the server’s certified statement of the date, manner and persons served goes to the issuing clerk.
Rule 45(b)(3)Failing to obey a served subpoena without adequate excuse may be deemed a contempt of the issuing court; enforcement goes to that same circuit court.
Rule 45(e); Ala. Code § 12-21-405Served 123 LLC handles the Rule 45 service and the server’s certified proof.
Get a Free Quote Online →A subpoena for records only, and what federal privacy law and the Alabama Rules of Evidence add when the records are medical or business records.
A documents-only recipient need not appear in person at the place of production unless also commanded to appear for a deposition, hearing or trial.
Rule 45(c)(2)(A)Alabama’s hospital-records statute may let a records custodian answer with a sealed copy and a signed certificate; whoever releases medical records may require the reasonable reproduction cost first.
Ala. Code §§ 12-21-6, 12-21-6.1Without a court order, a covered entity may release protected health information in answer to a subpoena on satisfactory assurance that the patient was given notice of the request, through a good-faith written notice, or that a qualified protective order was requested.
45 C.F.R. § 164.512(e)(1)(ii)A domestic record of regularly conducted activity that would be admissible under Rule 803(6) can come in with an affidavit or sworn testimony of its custodian or another qualified person; the party offering it gives written notice to all adverse parties.
Ala. R. Evid. 902(11)Served 123 LLC handles the issuance and service of an Alabama records subpoena.
Get a Free Quote Online →What can go wrong with an Alabama foreign subpoena, from the request to the clerk through service on the witness.
We check the subpoena against each of these before service and tell you what needs fixing.
Search or pick a county to see which circuit clerk issues the subpoena there, then start a quote.
How each neighboring state adopted the Act, whether the Act itself requires a local attorney and who issues the subpoena, from each state’s own statute or rule. “Check” marks a state whose own court rules or forms leave the local-attorney question open.
| State | Act Adopted | Local Attorney Required by the Act | Who Issues |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Ala. Code §§ 12-21-400 to 12-21-407 (Act 2012-518) | No | Circuit clerk, discovery county |
| Georgia | O.C.G.A. §§ 24-13-110 to 24-13-116 (H.B. 46) | No | Clerk of superior court, witness’s county of residence |
| Florida | Fla. Stat. § 92.251 | No | Clerk of court, discovery county |
| Mississippi | Miss. Code Ann. §§ 11-59-1 to 11-59-15 (S.B. 2264, 2011); M.R.C.P. 45 | No | Clerk of court, discovery county |
| Tennessee | Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 24-9-201 to 24-9-207 (Public Chapter 908, 2008) | Check | Clerk of court, discovery county |
Each answer cites its Alabama source. For questions that apply in every state, see our Subpoena Domestication FAQ. General information, not legal advice.
The Act sets them in Ala. Code § 12-21-402 through § 12-21-406, with § 12-21-402 covering the request and the clerk’s issuance, § 12-21-403 service under Rule 45, § 12-21-404 the Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure and the Code, § 12-21-405 the court that hears motions, and § 12-21-406(b) reciprocity. The Act section quotes its key lines.
Not on their own. Going out, In re National Contract Poultry Growers’ Ass’n (Ala. 2000) held, before the Act, that an Alabama trial court lacked authority to issue a nonparty subpoena for documents outside Alabama. Coming in, Ala. Code § 12-21-402 now supplies the route, and the witness’s side has its own answer.
It means having an Alabama circuit clerk issue a local subpoena on the out-of-state one, so the witness here can be served with it. Under Ala. Code § 12-21-402 the out-of-state subpoena goes to a circuit clerk, and the clerk’s Alabama subpoena, which incorporates the terms of the out-of-state one, is the paper the witness receives.
When a civil case pending in another state needs a deposition, documents or an inspection from someone in Alabama. Ala. Code § 12-21-401 defines a foreign subpoena as one issued in a civil action under authority of a court of record of another state, commanding testimony, records or electronically stored information, or entry to inspect premises. The route traces each stop.
A uniform law for taking discovery across state lines. Alabama’s version, Act 2012-518, is Ala. Code § 12-21-400 and the sections after it. It lets a party in another state’s civil case get an Alabama subpoena from a circuit clerk instead of from a judge, and § 12-21-406(a) asks Alabama judges construing it to weigh uniformity with the other enacting states.
Yes. Under Ala. Code § 12-21-406(b), the discovery privilege the Act gives litigants from other states applies only if the state where their case is pending gives a similar privilege to persons in Alabama. A case from a state with no such route cannot use the Act here. Reciprocity Checked, the route’s first stop, confirms it for your case.
No. The Act names no attorney requirement: Ala. Code § 12-21-402(a) puts the submission in the hands of a “party,” and asking for issuance is not an appearance in Alabama’s courts. Served 123 LLC prepares the request for the counsel already on the case.
The circuit clerk of the county where the deposition, production or inspection will take place, under Ala. Code § 12-21-402(a) and (b). Some counties run more than one circuit clerk office: Jefferson County has a Birmingham Division and a Bessemer Division. The county finder lists each office and its address.
A subpoena governed by Rule 45 of the Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure, the rule on a subpoena’s form, its service and the protection of the person it names. Rule 45(a)(1)(D) has the subpoena print the text of Rule 45(c) and (d), so the witness reads the grounds to object and the duties in responding on the subpoena itself.
By personal delivery, or by leaving a copy at the witness’s dwelling house or usual place of abode with someone of suitable age and discretion who lives there, Ala. R. Civ. P. 45(b)(1); certified mail or commercial carrier under Rule 4 is also allowed. Who May Serve the Subpoena sets out the rest.
No, not in a way Alabama can enforce by contempt: Ala. R. Civ. P. 45(e) reaches a person who fails to obey a subpoena “served upon that person.” Service is proper when it follows Rule 45(b)(1). When the Witness Does Not Comply covers what follows a failure to obey.
Not if you are a party to the case. Ala. R. Civ. P. 45(b)(1) leaves service to the sheriff, a deputy sheriff, or someone who is not a party, is at least 19 years old and is not related by blood or marriage within the third degree to the party seeking service. Served 123 LLC serves it through a non-party Alabama process server.
By a statement filed with the clerk of the court that issued the subpoena, Ala. R. Civ. P. 45(b)(3). The person who made service certifies it, giving the date, the manner of service and the names of everyone served. The rule requires that filing only when proof is necessary.
Yes, once an Alabama circuit clerk has issued it as an Alabama subpoena and it has been served on you. You can still answer it with a written objection under Ala. Code § 12-21-402(c)(3), or a motion to quash or modify on a ground Ala. R. Civ. P. 45(c)(3) lists.
Any dispute over the Alabama subpoena is heard in Alabama. Ala. Code § 12-21-405 sends a request for a protective order, or to enforce, quash or modify that subpoena, to the circuit court in the Alabama county where the discovery takes place, under this state’s rules and statutes. Motions to Quash or Modify lists the grounds.
Yes, within limits. Ala. Code § 12-21-401 lets a foreign subpoena command a deposition from any “person,” which reaches individuals, businesses, trusts, estates, associations and governments. An Alabama resident who is neither a party nor a party’s officer can move to quash one requiring travel over 100 miles from where that person resides, is employed or regularly transacts business in person; see How Far the Witness Must Travel.
Not to produce records alone. Ala. R. Civ. P. 45(c)(2)(A) excuses someone commanded only to produce electronically stored information, books, papers, documents or tangible things, or to permit their inspection, from attending unless the subpoena also commands appearance at a deposition, hearing or trial. Records-Only Subpoenas covers the rest.
Fifteen days from proper service. Ala. Code § 12-21-402(c)(3) has the Alabama subpoena state on its face that the recipient may object within that time with a reasonably specific written objection to the initiating party and the local issuing clerk. A subpoena that fails to allow reasonable time for compliance can also be quashed or modified, Ala. R. Civ. P. 45(c)(3)(A)(i). The deadline calculator counts the days.
Six items: the subpoena with its attachments, the witness’s name and address, your deadline, whether to serve it, every counsel’s contact details, and the state where the case is pending. Ala. Code § 12-21-402(c)(2) has the Alabama subpoena list all counsel. The order form takes the upload, witness, deadline and service choice; add counsel contacts and that state with the form’s Add Special Instructions button.
An issuance fee for each subpoena, as circuit clerk fee schedules list it, so two subpoenas mean two fees; the Act, Ala. Code § 12-21-400 through § 12-21-407, sets none. Served 123 LLC includes that fee for any of Alabama’s 67 counties in one written quote, with document preparation and service when ordered.
$1.50 a day plus $.05 for each mile to and from the witness’s residence by the usual traveled route, in a civil case under Ala. Code § 12-19-131(a); a subpoenaed volunteer firefighter or emergency medical provider testifying about an on-duty event gets $70 a day under § 12-19-139. Witness Fee and Mileage covers when the fee is tendered.
No set number of days. Ala. Code § 12-21-402(b) says only that the clerk, following that court’s own procedure, issues the subpoena promptly once the foreign subpoena is submitted. Nothing else in the Act puts a number of days on issuance.
One written quote covers document preparation, the clerk’s fee and service, when you order service.
Questions? Call (800) 321-2377
Nearby States: Georgia · Mississippi · Tennessee
