Under the Uniform Interstate Depositions and Discovery Act, a foreign subpoena is submitted to the district court in the county where discovery is sought, and the clerk issues a subpoena; the Act requires no Colorado attorney. Served 123 LLC gets the subpoena issued and serves the witness.
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Every Colorado Order Includes
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Every Colorado County
Served 123 LLC handles subpoena domestications in all 64 counties, and whatever the court charges is in your quote. The county finder and its court directory list each county’s district court and its street address, linked to the court’s own Colorado Judicial Branch page.
Records Subpoenas Go to the Same Court
A subpoena for documents alone goes to the same district court, and the person commanded to produce need not come in person unless the subpoena also calls for a deposition, hearing or trial. Unless all parties, the privilege holder and the person subpoenaed agree in writing, or a hearing is expedited, production waits at least 14 days after service.
Colorado Subpoena Domestication Order
Our quote covers document preparation, the clerk’s fee and service if ordered. One case, one fee, per witness.
Four stops, each set by article 90.5 of title 13 or by C.R.C.P. 45, take the out-of-state subpoena from the home court to a witness in Colorado.
The foreign subpoena is submitted to the district court for the county in which discovery is sought, not the court where the home case is pending.
The clerk promptly issues a Colorado subpoena that incorporates the terms of the foreign one and lists, or comes with, the names, addresses and telephone numbers of all counsel of record and of any party not represented by counsel.
Our server, an adult who is not a party, hands the witness a copy anywhere in Colorado and, when attendance is required, tenders one day’s mileage before the appearance date.
Our server’s affidavit of service comes back to you, and the party who issued the subpoena serves a copy on every other party immediately after service.
Under C.R.C.P. 45(c)(2)(C), which the Act applies to the issued subpoena, any party or the person subpoenaed to produce records or tangible things may submit to the party issuing the subpoena a written objection to inspecting, copying, testing or sampling any or all of the materials, and “The objection must be submitted before the earlier of the time specified for compliance or 14 days after the subpoena is served.” Rule 45(c)(3)(A) has a motion to quash or modify made “promptly and in any event at or before the time specified in the subpoena for compliance.”
If the compliance date comes first, it controls. If a date is close, ask counsel.
A planning aid, not legal advice: it cannot know holidays declared later, an earlier compliance date in the subpoena, or a court order setting another time. Days are counted under Rule 6(a)(1) and holidays under the Rule 6(a)(2) list as amended June 29, 2022, which added Juneteenth. Rule Change 2021(01), effective April 1, 2021, put Frances Cabrini Day, the first Monday in October, in place of the 2011 list’s Columbus Day, the second Monday. From 2013, a Sunday holiday moves to the Monday after under C.R.S. § 24-11-101: “the Monday following shall be considered as the holiday”. A Saturday holiday moves to the Friday before only where the Judicial Branch’s 2026 and FY2027 holiday schedules show it, through June 30, 2027: Independence Day 2026 (Friday, July 3) and Juneteenth 2027 (Friday, June 18).
Colorado enacted the Uniform Interstate Depositions and Discovery Act (UIDDA) by statute in 2008, as article 90.5 of title 13 of the Colorado Revised Statutes. Below, its text: where the foreign subpoena goes, what the clerk issues and the rules that govern service.
To request issuance of a subpoena under this section, a party must submit a foreign subpoena to the district court for the county in which discovery is sought to be conducted in this state.
A request for the issuance of a subpoena under this section does not constitute an appearance in the courts of this state.
When a party submits a foreign subpoena to a clerk of court in this state, the clerk, in accordance with that court’s procedure, shall promptly issue a subpoena for service upon the person to which the foreign subpoena is directed.
A subpoena issued by a clerk of court under section 13-90.5-103 must be served in compliance with section 13-90-115, rule 45 of the Colorado rules of civil procedure, and any other applicable statutes or rules of this state.
No reported Colorado appellate decision has yet interpreted C.R.S. §§ 13-90.5-101 to 13-90.5-107; the statute’s own text governs submission, issuance and service, and § 13-90.5-104 sends service to C.R.C.P. 45.
Official texts: C.R.S. title 13 (2024 edition: article 90.5, §§ 13-1-140, 13-33-102, 13-33-103 and 13-90-115); SB 25-129 (Session Laws of Colorado 2025, ch. 96), which added § 13-1-140.1; C.R.C.P. 45, repealed and readopted effective January 1, 2013, and Rule 45(e), amended effective March 1, 2022; C.R.C.P. 6(a), as amended by Rule Change 2021(01) and Rule Change 2022(11); C.R.S. § 24-11-101; the Judicial Branch’s JDF 86 instructions and its Issuing a Subpoena (Out of State) page. General information, not legal advice. The official text controls.
Served 123 LLC prepares the papers for the district court clerk and has the Colorado subpoena served.
Get a Free Quote Online →Section 13-90.5-104 sends service to C.R.S. § 13-90-115 and C.R.C.P. 45, and § 13-90.5-105 applies § 13-90-112 and C.R.C.P. 37: who can serve, the mileage tender, lead times, notice to the other parties, proof, and objections and motions after service. For a summons or other court papers, see process service in Colorado.
The issued subpoena must be served in compliance with C.R.S. § 13-90-115 and C.R.C.P. 45. Any person over the age of eighteen who is not a party may serve it, and service may be made anywhere within the state of Colorado. The Judicial Branch’s instructions send it to a private process server or the local sheriff’s office.
C.R.S. § 13-90.5-104; § 13-90-115; C.R.C.P. 45(b)(2)Serving the subpoena means handing the named person a copy, or service as the court otherwise orders consistent with due process. Service is also valid when the person named has signed a written acknowledgement or waiver of service; the court’s subpoena form has a block for accepting it by mail, email or fax.
C.R.C.P. 45(b)(2)Under § 13-33-103 a witness is paid, as tied to § 24-9-104, “for each mile actually and necessarily traveled in going from his or her place of residence to the place named in the summons or subpoena and in returning to such place of residence”; and under C.R.S. § 13-33-102(4), a witness “called to testify only to an opinion founded on special study or experience in any branch of science or to make scientific or professional examinations and state the result thereof shall receive compensation, to be fixed by the court, with reference to the value of the time employed and the degree of learning or skill required.” Subsections (1) to (3) of § 13-33-102 were deleted effective July 1, 2010.
C.R.S. § 13-33-102; § 13-33-103If the subpoena requires the person’s attendance, Rule 45(b)(3) has payment for 1 day’s mileage allowed by law tendered to the subpoenaed person at the time of service or within a reasonable time after it, and in any event before the appearance date; a subpoena that requires no attendance carries no tender under this rule. “Payment for mileage need not be tendered when the subpoena issues on behalf of the state of Colorado or any of its officers or agencies.” The Judicial Branch’s JDF 86 adds: “Pursuant to C.R.S. § 13-33-103, you must compensate mileage for each witness.” We advance that mileage, tender it when the subpoena is served and show it on your written quote.
C.R.C.P. 45(b)(3)Under Rule 45(b)(1), unless otherwise ordered by the court for good cause, a subpoena only for deposition testimony is served not later than 7 days before compliance is required, and one commanding a person to produce records or tangible things in that person’s possession, custody, or control not later than 14 days before compliance is required. For that records subpoena, Rule 45(b)(1)(C) adds: “In the case of an expedited hearing pursuant to these rules or any statute, service shall be made as soon as possible before compliance is required.”
C.R.C.P. 45(b)(1)A Colorado resident can be required to attend a deposition only in the county where the witness resides, is employed or transacts business in person, or at another convenient place a court order fixes. Rule 45(e)(2) reads: “A nonresident of this state may be required by subpoena to attend only within forty miles from the place of service of the subpoena in the state of Colorado or in the county wherein the nonresident resides or is employed or transacts business in person or at such other convenient place as is fixed by an order of court.”
C.R.C.P. 45(e)(1), (2)Immediately after service, the party or attorney who issued the subpoena serves a copy of it on all parties under C.R.C.P. 5. Records or tangible things produced are made available in a timely fashion to all other parties for inspection and copying.
C.R.C.P. 45(b)(5)(A), (C)Proof of service is the affidavit of the person who made it, showing the time, place and manner of service and the person served. Rule 45(b)(4) has proof made as C.R.C.P. 4(h) provides.
C.R.S. § 13-90-115; C.R.C.P. 45(b)(4)Under Rule 45(c)(2)(C), any party or the person subpoenaed to produce records or tangible things may submit to the party issuing the subpoena a written objection to inspecting, copying, testing or sampling any or all of the materials. The objection must be submitted before the earlier of the time specified for compliance or 14 days after the subpoena is served.
C.R.C.P. 45(c)(2)(C)An application for a protective order, or to enforce, quash or modify the subpoena, follows Colorado’s rules or statutes and goes to the district court for the county in which discovery is to be conducted. A motion to quash or modify is made promptly, and in any event at or before the time specified in the subpoena for compliance.
C.R.S. § 13-90.5-106; C.R.C.P. 45(c)(3)(A)Served 123 LLC handles the Rule 45 service and the server’s affidavit of service.
Get a Free Quote Online →These cards cover when a documents-only subpoena calls for no appearance and how long production waits after service, what Rule 45 asks before privileged records are released, the federal HIPAA rule for health records, and the affirmation Colorado now requires about legally protected health-care activity.
A witness subpoenaed only for documents or tangible things need not appear at the place of production unless the subpoena also commands attendance at a deposition, hearing or trial. Rule 45(d)(1)(A) reads: “Unless agreed in writing by all parties, the privilege holder or holders and the person subpoenaed, production shall not be made until at least 14 days after service of the subpoena, except that, in the case of an expedited hearing pursuant to these rules or any statute, in the absence of such agreement, production shall be made only at the place, date and time for compliance set forth in the subpoena”.
C.R.C.P. 45(c)(2)(A); 45(d)(1)(A)Rule 45(c)(2)(B) reaches a subpoena for records from a person who provides services subject to a privilege established by C.R.S. § 13-90-107, or from that person’s records custodian, when the records pertain to services performed by or at the direction of that person. Such a subpoena must be accompanied by an authorization signed by the privilege holder or holders or by a court order authorizing production of such records. Without one, “the subpoenaed person shall not appear to testify and shall not disclose any of the privileged records to the party who issued the subpoena.”
C.R.C.P. 45(c)(2)(B)A court order lets a HIPAA covered entity release “only the protected health information expressly authorized by such order”. On a subpoena without such an order, (e)(1)(ii) allows release on satisfactory assurance from the party seeking the information of reasonable efforts to ensure that the individual who is the subject of the protected health information “has been given notice of the request” or “to secure a qualified protective order that meets the requirements of paragraph (e)(1)(v) of this section.” Paragraphs (iii) and (iv) follow below. That order, or a stipulation by the parties, “Prohibits the parties from using or disclosing the protected health information for any purpose other than the litigation or proceeding for which such information was requested” and “Requires the return to the covered entity or destruction of the protected health information (including all copies made) at the end of the litigation or proceeding.”
45 C.F.R. § 164.512(e)(1)(i)–(v)C.R.S. § 13-1-140, quoted in full below these cards, bars issuing a subpoena in connection with a proceeding in another state concerning an individual engaging in a legally protected health-care activity, or a covered insurer, and its subsection (2) sets out the exception for “the investigation of criminal activity that may involve a legally protected health-care activity”. Under § 13-1-140.1(1), added by SB 25-129 (Session Laws 2025, ch. 96, approved April 24, 2025), “an individual requesting a subpoena shall affirm under penalty of perjury”, in the words quoted in full below; we prepare it with the request for that signature. Its subsection (2) brings an individual who omits or falsifies the affirmation under the jurisdiction of Colorado courts and, on the findings it names, a civil penalty of up to fifteen thousand dollars for each violation; the affirmation FAQ quotes it.
C.R.S. § 13-1-140(1), (2); § 13-1-140.1(iii) For the purposes of paragraph (e)(1)(ii)(A) of this section, a covered entity receives satisfactory assurances from a party seeking protected health information if the covered entity receives from such party a written statement and accompanying documentation demonstrating that: (A) The party requesting such information has made a good faith attempt to provide written notice to the individual (or, if the individual’s location is unknown, to mail a notice to the individual’s last known address); (B) The notice included sufficient information about the litigation or proceeding in which the protected health information is requested to permit the individual to raise an objection to the court or administrative tribunal; and (C) The time for the individual to raise objections to the court or administrative tribunal has elapsed, and: (1) No objections were filed; or (2) All objections filed by the individual have been resolved by the court or the administrative tribunal and the disclosures being sought are consistent with such resolution. (iv) For the purposes of paragraph (e)(1)(ii)(B) of this section, a covered entity receives satisfactory assurances from a party seeking protected health information, if the covered entity receives from such party a written statement and accompanying documentation demonstrating that: (A) The parties to the dispute giving rise to the request for information have agreed to a qualified protective order and have presented it to the court or administrative tribunal with jurisdiction over the dispute; or (B) The party seeking the protected health information has requested a qualified protective order from such court or administrative tribunal.
(1) A court, judicial officer, court employee, or attorney shall not issue a subpoena in connection with a proceeding in another state concerning an individual engaging in a legally protected health-care activity, as defined in section 12-30-121 (1)(d), or an entity that provides insurance coverage for gender-affirming health-care services, as defined in section 12-30-121 (1)(c), or reproductive health care, as defined in section 25-6-402 (4). (2) This section does not prohibit the investigation of criminal activity that may involve a legally protected health-care activity, provided that information relating to a medical procedure performed on an individual is not shared with an agency or individual from another state for the purpose of enforcing another state’s abortion law.
An individual requesting a subpoena shall affirm under penalty of perjury that the subpoena: (a) is not related to, and any information obtained as a result of the subpoena will not be used in, any investigation or proceeding that seeks to impose civil or criminal liability or professional sanctions against an individual or entity that engaged in or attempted or intended to engage in a legally protected health-care activity, as defined in section 12-30-121, or that provided insurance coverage for gender-affirming health-care services, as defined in section 12-30-121, or reproductive health care, as defined in section 25-6-402; or (b) is related to an investigation or proceeding that seeks to impose civil or criminal liability or professional sanctions against an individual or entity that engaged in or attempted or intended to engage in a legally protected health-care activity, as defined in section 12-30-121, or that provided insurance coverage for gender-affirming health-care services, as defined in section 12-30-121, or reproductive health care, as defined in section 25-6-402, but the investigation or proceeding: (I) is brought under tort law or contract law; (II) is actionable in an equivalent or similar manner under Colorado law; and (III) is brought by the individual, or the individual’s legal representative, who received gender-affirming health-care services or reproductive health care.
C.R.S. § 13-1-140.1(1), added by SB 25-129
If a subpoena to attend a deposition is sought pursuant to Rule 45(c)(2)(A) in order to produce and authenticate documents, the issuing party should consider establishing admissibility under C.R.E. 902(11) as a means of reducing undue burden and expense upon the subpoenaed person.
C.R.C.P. 45, Committee Comments
Served 123 LLC handles the issuance and service of a Colorado records subpoena.
Get a Free Quote Online →These are the places a Colorado foreign subpoena tends to go wrong, from the district court’s intake to the witness’s door, and the court that hears a motion after service.
We check the papers we prepare and the service we make against the first ten traps below and tell you what needs fixing. A motion to quash comes after service, and we tell you which court it goes to.
Search or pick a county to see which district court clerk issues the subpoena there, then start a quote; the court directory below lists each office.
Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah and Wyoming each adopted the Act in their own way. The table sets them beside Colorado’s statute: the enactment, whether a local attorney is required by the Act, and who issues the subpoena, each from that state’s own law.
| State | Act Adopted | Local Attorney Required by the Act | Who Issues |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colorado | C.R.S. §§ 13-90.5-101 to 13-90.5-107 (L. 2008) | No | Clerk of the district court, discovery county |
| Utah | Utah Code §§ 78B-17-101 to 78B-17-302 (2008 ch. 278) | No | Clerk of court, judicial district of discovery |
| New Mexico | NMRA Rule 1-045.1 (Order 09-8300-018, 2009) | No | Clerk of the district court, discovery county |
| Wyoming | W.R.C.P. 28(c) (2017, amended 2021) | No | Clerk of the district court, discovery county |
| Kansas | K.S.A. 60-228a (L. 2010, ch. 135) | No | Clerk of the district court, discovery county |
| Nebraska | Neb. Ct. R. Disc. § 6-330(A) (adopted 2021) | No | Clerk of the district court, discovery county |
| Oklahoma | 12 O.S. § 3252 (Laws 2021, HB 2229) | No | Clerk of court, discovery county |
Every answer cites the Colorado statute, rule or court source behind it. For questions that apply in every state, see our Subpoena Domestication FAQ. General information, not legal advice.
The 2008 statute under which a party submits a foreign subpoena to the district court of the discovery county, and that court’s clerk issues a Colorado subpoena. The Act leaves Colorado procedure in place: the clerk’s subpoena is served under C.R.C.P. 45, and enforcement runs through C.R.C.P. 37 and § 13-90-112. What the Colorado UIDDA Requires quotes its key sentences.
The district court of the county where the deposition or production will take place. C.R.S. § 13-90.5-103(1) ties the venue to the discovery, not to the court where the home case is pending, so a deposition in El Paso County means the El Paso court. Look the county up in our district court finder.
No. JDF 86 reads: “The Request can be filed by an attorney (licensed in Colorado or licensed out-of-state) or by any party not represented by counsel.” Under C.R.S. § 13-90.5-103(1), the request “does not constitute an appearance in the courts of this state.” Your case stays in its home court; What the Colorado UIDDA Requires has both sources in full.
As a uniform act, under C.R.S. § 13-90.5-107, which the statute section quotes word for word. No reported Colorado appellate decision has interpreted article 90.5 yet, so its text and C.R.C.P. 45 govern issuance and service. The case-law note follows that quote in the same section.
The foreign subpoena’s terms, carried over, and contact details for the lawyers. The statute asks for names, addresses and phone numbers of all counsel of record and of any party without one; Rule 45 adds email where known and, for records, its own subsections (c) and (d) printed in full. What the Colorado UIDDA Requires.
§ 13-1-140.1(2) subjects the signer to “the jurisdiction of Colorado courts for any action, penalties, or damages arising out of the omission or false affirmation”, and a court, “upon finding the omission or false affirmation was made intentionally, knowingly, willfully, or recklessly, shall impose a civil penalty in an amount not to exceed fifteen thousand dollars for each violation”, “in addition to any other legal or equitable remedy lawfully available.”
Yes, either one, or any other nonparty adult. C.R.S. § 13-90-115 sets the age as over eighteen and Rule 45(b)(2) as at least 18, and the Judicial Branch points requesters to a private process server or the sheriff. Served 123 LLC has a local process server deliver the issued subpoena and sends you the signed affidavit; see Any Adult Who Is Not a Party.
Yes, by signing. A written acknowledgement or waiver signed by the person named makes service valid under Rule 45(b)(2), and the court’s form lets a witness accept by mail, email or fax. A witness who will not sign is handed a copy instead; Delivery, or a Signed Waiver has both routes.
Yes, but the place of a deposition is limited: Rule 45(e)(1) sets the places for a resident and Rule 45(e)(2) for a nonresident, whose rule alone allows anywhere within forty miles from the place of service. Both rules keep open a convenient place fixed by an order of court. The attendance card sets out each rule.
Yes, every party to the case. Right after service, Rule 45(b)(5)(A) has whoever issued the subpoena serve each party a copy under C.R.C.P. 5, and anything the witness later produces is made available to the others for inspection and copying. Copies to Every Party.
The server’s affidavit. Under C.R.S. § 13-90-115 it states the time, place and manner of service and who was served, and Rule 45(b)(4) points to C.R.C.P. 4(h) for the form of proof. You receive the signed affidavit from us once the witness is served; see The Server’s Affidavit.
Only mileage is tendered for attendance: 1 day’s mileage, “in any event prior to the appearance date”, Rule 45(b)(3), and JDF 86 tells the requester to compensate mileage for each witness. An expert’s compensation is fixed by the court under § 13-33-102(4), as the Mileage for Every Witness card quotes. We advance the mileage on the written quote. Tendered Before the Appearance covers the exception for the state.
Per mile, round trip: the trip from the witness’s residence to the place the subpoena names, then back again. Under C.R.S. § 13-33-103 the rate is “the same base mileage allowance amount as provided for state officers and employees under section 24-9-104”. Mileage for Every Witness quotes the statute.
Before the earlier of the compliance time or 14 days after service, under Rule 45(c)(2)(C); enter your service date in the objection calculator. A written objection reaches records or tangible things, and its full scope is quoted above the calculator.
No, it goes to the Colorado court. C.R.S. § 13-90.5-106 sends a motion to quash, modify or enforce, or for a protective order, to the district court of the discovery county, and Rule 45(c)(3)(A) asks that it be made promptly; the calculator above quotes its outer limit. See Motions in the Discovery County.
No. Rule 45(c)(2)(B) makes an authorization signed by the privilege holder, or a court order, the condition for production; without one the provider “shall not disclose any of the privileged records”. We check that one travels with the subpoena before service. See Privileged Records.
Yes. The Act leaves intake to each court, and the Judicial Branch has every requester, attorneys included, open an individual case and pay the filing fee for each subpoena: one case per witness, so three witnesses mean three cases. Our written quote counts every one of them; the statute section names the source.
Yes. One written quote covers it: preparing the documents, the court’s filing fee for each case the Judicial Branch opens, and serving the witness when you order service, with any mileage we advance. You see the total before work starts; the fee rule is in the statute section.
Closer for testimony than for records. Under C.R.C.P. 45(b)(1), a deposition-only subpoena is served “not later than 7 days before compliance is required”, a records subpoena “not later than 14 days before compliance is required”, and in an expedited hearing “as soon as possible before compliance is required.” Order early enough for the clerk to issue it first. See Service Lead Times for the good-cause exception.
Production comes no sooner than 14 days after service in the ordinary case, so plan the production date at least two weeks out. A written agreement of everyone the rule names, or an expedited hearing, changes that; Rule 45(d)(1)(A) is set out word for word on the records card.
Yes, in part. Effective March 1, 2022, the Supreme Court added Rule 45(e)(3): “A subpoena commanding a public or private corporation, partnership, association, governmental agency, or other entity to attend and testify at a deposition is subject to the requirements of Rule 30(b)(6). Responses to such subpoenas are also subject to Rule 30(b)(6).” The statute section gives the dates of the rule’s current text and of the 2008 statute.
One written quote covers document preparation, the clerk’s fee and service, when you order service, with any mileage we advance for each witness.
Questions? Call (800) 321-2377
Nearby States: Utah · New Mexico · Wyoming
