Under § 15-47-120 of the Uniform Interstate Depositions and Discovery Act, the foreign subpoena is submitted to the clerk of court of the county where discovery is sought, who issues it. The Act requires no South Carolina attorney, but e-filing does. Out-of-state counsel: Check with the clerk.
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Served 123 LLC handles subpoena domestications in all 46 South Carolina counties. The county finder names the clerk of court where discovery is sought, and the directory lists each address. Search the finder by town or ZIP code and it points you to the right clerk’s office for your witness.
Documents Subpoena
A person asked only for records need not appear in person under Rule 45(c)(2)(A), and may object in writing within 14 days after service. Physician records and mental health confidences each have their own South Carolina statute, set out below. Your written quote confirms the path, before you pay.
South Carolina Subpoena Domestication Order
One written quote covers document preparation, any issuer’s or clerk’s fee and service if ordered.
The table gives each point of the clerk route with its statute or rule, and the steps below show the order of the work, from the papers you send to the signed proof.
| Point | South Carolina | Statute or Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Law | The Uniform Interstate Depositions and Discovery Act, 2010 Act No. 132, effective March 30, 2010 | §§ 15-47-100 to 15-47-160 |
| Venue | The clerk of court in the discovery county | § 15-47-120(A) |
| Who Issues | The clerk, promptly, in accordance with the rules of court | § 15-47-120(B) |
| Appearance | The request is not an appearance in South Carolina courts | § 15-47-120(A) |
| What Goes In | The foreign terms, with every counsel’s and unrepresented party’s name, address and telephone number | § 15-47-120(B) |
| Second Route | Rule 28(d): a South Carolina attorney, or the clerk, after the filing fee | Rule 28(d) |
| Fee | Any clerk’s fee: Check with the clerk; your written quote states it | Check |
| Service | A non-party 18 or older, as for a summons, in the non-party’s county | § 15-47-130; Rule 45(b) |
| Witness Fee | A daily attendance fee plus State travel mileage, tendered on arrival | Rule 45(b)(1) |
| Proof | A certified statement filed with the issuing clerk | Rule 45(b)(3) |
| Party Notice | A records subpoena copied to each party at least ten days before compliance | Rule 45(a)(4) |
| Objections | Records objections within 14 days after service | Rule 45(c)(2)(B) |
| Travel Limit | A non-party: 50 miles from the county of residence, work or business | Rule 45(c)(3)(A)(ii) |
| Motions | The court of the discovery county, under South Carolina rules | § 15-47-150 |
Your subpoena comes to us with the witness, your dates and the counsel list, and your written quote confirms the steps before you pay.
We prepare the South Carolina subpoena with the foreign terms and every counsel’s name, address and telephone number.
The discovery county’s clerk issues it promptly, in accordance with the rules of court.
Your side serves each party a copy of a records subpoena ten days ahead, or written notice of a deposition.
Our server delivers it to the witness in the county where the witness lives, works or does business in person.
The server’s certified statement of the date and manner of service comes back to you.
Under Rule 45(c)(2)(B), a person commanded to produce may serve written objection “within 14 days after service of the subpoena or before the time specified for compliance if such time is less than 14 days after service”. Under Rule 6(a), the day of service is left out, and a last day on a Saturday, Sunday or State or Federal holiday runs to the next day that is none of those.
A compliance date earlier than Day 14 controls instead.
A planning aid, not legal advice. It does not see a holiday appointed later, the five days Rule 6(e) adds after mail service, a day the clerk’s office closes, or a court order setting another time. Each can only make the date later; if a date is close, ask counsel.
South Carolina enacted the Uniform Interstate Depositions and Discovery Act by statute in 2010, as Chapter 47 of Title 15, and kept Rule 28(d) as a court-rule route beside it. The quotations below are § 15-47-120: where the request goes, who issues and what the South Carolina subpoena must carry.
To request issuance of a subpoena under this chapter, a party must submit a foreign subpoena to the clerk of court of the county in which discovery is sought to be conducted in this State. A request for the issuance of a subpoena under this chapter does not constitute an appearance in the courts of this State.
Served 123 LLC prepares the South Carolina subpoena and handles the clerk step.
Get a Free Quote Online →When a party submits a foreign subpoena to a clerk of court in this State, the clerk, in accordance with the rules of court, promptly shall issue a subpoena for service upon the person to which the foreign subpoena is directed.
The subpoena must incorporate the terms used in the foreign subpoena and contain or be accompanied by the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of all counsel of record in the proceeding to which the subpoena relates and of any party not represented by counsel.
Official texts: S.C. Code §§ 15-47-100 to 15-47-160; § 8-21-320, §§ 44-115-40 and 44-115-150, § 19-11-95 and §§ 53-5-10 to 53-5-60; SCRCP Rule 4, Rule 6, Rule 28, Rule 30 and Rule 45; 5 U.S.C. § 6103; 45 C.F.R. § 164.512. General information, not legal advice. The official text controls.
Served 123 LLC prepares the papers under the Act, and your written quote confirms the steps, before you pay.
Get a Free Quote Online →These cards set out who may serve, how, in which county, what the witness is owed and when, the proof, the notice owed to the other side, the deposition itself, the travel limit and where a motion goes. For a summons or other court papers, see process service in South Carolina.
Section 15-47-130 reads: “A subpoena issued by a clerk of court under Section 15-47-120 must be served in compliance with the applicable rules of court or statutes relating to the service of a subpoena in this State.” Rule 45(b)(1) then reads: “A subpoena may be served by any person who is not a party and is not less than 18 years of age.”
§ 15-47-130; SCRCP 45(b)(1)Rule 45(b)(2) opens broadly, “a subpoena may be served at any place within the State.”, then narrows it for a witness outside the case: a non-party subpoena “shall issue from the court for the county in which the non-party resides or is employed or regularly transacts business in person and be served in that county”.
SCRCP 45(b)(2)Rule 45(b)(1) reads: “Service of a subpoena upon a person named therein shall be made in the same manner prescribed for service of a summons and complaint in Rule 4(d) or (j).” For an individual, Rule 4(d)(1) service is made “by delivering a copy of the summons and complaint to him personally or by leaving copies thereof at his dwelling house or usual place of abode with some person of suitable age and discretion then residing therein”.
SCRCP 45(b)(1); 4(d)(1)In South Carolina the proof of service is a filing made with the clerk of the court that issued the subpoena, and the server is the one who signs off on it. “Proof of service when necessary shall be made by filing with the clerk of the court by which the subpoena is issued a statement of the date and manner of service and of the names of the persons served, certified by the person who made the service.”
SCRCP 45(b)(3)Rule 45(a)(4) reads: “If the subpoena commands the production of documents, electronically stored information, or tangible things or the inspection of premises before trial, then before it is served on the person to whom it is directed, a copy of the subpoena must be served on each party in the manner prescribed by Rule 5(b) at least ten days before the time specified for compliance.” For a deposition, Rule 30(b)(1) reads: “A party desiring to take the deposition of any person upon oral examination shall give ten (10) days notice in writing to every other party to the action.”
SCRCP 45(a)(4); 30(b)(1)Under Rule 45(b)(1), a witness whose attendance is commanded “shall, upon his arrival in accordance with the subpoena, be tendered fees for each day's attendance of $25.00 and the mileage allowed by law for official travel of State officers and employees from his residence to the location commanded in the subpoena.” The 2015 note moved the tender to arrival, “rather than at the time of the service of a subpoena”. The one exception: “When the subpoena is issued on behalf of the State of South Carolina or an officer or agency thereof, fees and mileage need not be tendered.”
SCRCP 45(b)(1) and 2015 NoteWhat a deposition witness is paid comes from two rules. Rule 30(a)(2) sets the rate: “A witness attending any deposition held pursuant to these rules shall receive for each day's attendance and for the time necessarily occupied in going to and returning from the same, $25.00 per day”. Rule 28(d) adds that the witness “is entitled to the same compensation as provided to a witness pursuant to Rule or statute.”
SCRCP 30(a)(2); 28(d)Rule 30(a)(2) reads: “A witness may be compelled to attend in the county in which he resides or is employed or transacts his business in person, or at such other convenient place as is fixed by an order of the court.” Rule 28(d) says the same for its route: “Such witness may be compelled to attend a deposition only in the county where he resides, where he is employed, or where he transacts his business in person.”
SCRCP 30(a)(2); 28(d)Rule 30(b)(7) reads: “The parties may stipulate in writing or the court may upon motion order that a deposition be taken by telephone.” Such “a deposition taken by telephone is taken at the same place where the deponent is to answer questions propounded to him.” and “The notary before whom the deposition is taken shall be at the same place as the deponent during the taking of the deposition.”
SCRCP 30(b)(7)Whoever swears the witness must hold that power. For a deposition taken within any state, Rule 28(a) reads that “depositions shall be taken before an officer authorized to administer oaths by the laws of the United States or of the place where the examination is held, or before a person appointed by the court in which the action is pending.”
SCRCP 28(a)Under Rule 45(c)(3)(A)(ii), the court quashes or modifies a subpoena that “requires a person who is not a party nor an officer, director or managing agent of a party, nor a general partner of a partnership that is a party, to travel more than 50 miles from the county where that person resides, is employed or regularly transacts business in person”. Rule 45(e) adds: “An adequate cause for failure to obey exists when a subpoena purports to require a non-party to attend a deposition, permit an inspection, or produce at a place not within the limits provided by clause (ii) of subparagraph (c)(3)(A)”.
SCRCP 45(c)(3)(A)(ii); 45(e)Rule 45(c)(3)(A) names the court: “On timely motion, the court by which a subpoena was issued, or regarding a subpoena commanding appearance at a deposition, or production or inspection directed to a non-party, the court in the county where the non-party resides, is employed or regularly transacts business in person”. That court “shall quash or modify the subpoena if it: (i) fails to allow reasonable time for compliance”, “requires disclosure of privileged or otherwise protected matter and no exception or waiver applies” or “(iv) subjects a person to undue burden.”
SCRCP 45(c)(3)(A)Section 15-47-150 reads: “An application to the court for a protective order or to enforce, quash, or modify a subpoena issued by a clerk of court under Section 15-47-120 must comply with the applicable rules or statutes of this State and be submitted to the court in the county in which discovery is to be conducted.” Section 8-21-320 then sets a statewide motion fee: “There is assessed for every motion made in the court of common pleas and family court, not including motions made in family court juvenile delinquency proceedings, a fee of twenty-five dollars.”
§§ 15-47-150, 8-21-320Two local rules add a conference step before a motion to compel is heard. The Richland County rules, adopted “to assure the efficient management of the Common Pleas jury docket for Richland County”, say “the parties must communicate orally in a good faith effort to resolve the pending motion to compel. The parties must orally communicate after the motion has been scheduled and before the hearing of the motion”. For Greenville and Pickens, the Thirteenth Circuit “requests that such communication be orally or in person.”
Richland County and Thirteenth Circuit Local RulesServed 123 LLC handles the service and the signed proof of service.
Get a Free Quote Online →These cards cover a request for records alone, the fourteen-day objection, copies for the other parties, how records are produced, privileged material, physician records and mental health confidences.
A keeper asked only for records may send them rather than come in: the subpoenaed person “need not appear in person at the place of production or inspection unless commanded to appear for deposition, hearing or trial”. That covers documents, stored information, tangible things and premises inspections alike.
SCRCP 45(c)(2)(A)South Carolina gives a records keeper a short window to push back, who “may, within 14 days after service of the subpoena or before the time specified for compliance if such time is less than 14 days after service, serve upon the party or attorney designated in the subpoena written objection”.
SCRCP 45(c)(2)(B)A served objection halts any South Carolina inspection until a judge acts. “If objection is made, the party serving the subpoena shall not be entitled to inspect and copy the materials or inspect the premises except pursuant to an order of the court by which the subpoena was issued.” The requesting side may then go to the issuing court: “If objection has been made, the party serving the subpoena may, upon notice to the person commanded to produce, move at any time in the court that issued the subpoena for an order to compel the production.”
SCRCP 45(c)(2)(B)South Carolina sets the shape of what is handed over: “A person responding to a subpoena to produce documents shall produce them as they are kept in the usual course of business or shall organize and label them to correspond with the categories in the demand.” Hard-to-reach electronic sources get a carve-out: “A person responding to a subpoena need not provide discovery of electronically stored information from sources that the person identifies as not reasonably accessible because of undue burden or cost.”
SCRCP 45(d)(1)(A), (D)Rule 45(c)(2)(A) reads: “A party or an attorney responsible for the issuance and service of a subpoena for production of books, papers and documents without a deposition shall provide to another party copies of documents so produced upon written request.” It adds: “The party requesting copies shall pay the reasonable costs of reproduction.”
SCRCP 45(c)(2)(A)Rule 45(d)(2)(A) reads: “When information subject to a subpoena is withheld on a claim that it is privileged or subject to protection as trial preparation materials, the claim shall be made expressly and shall be supported by a description of the nature of the documents, communications, or things not produced that is sufficient to enable the demanding party to contest the claim.”
SCRCP 45(d)(2)(A)Two sections of Title 44 bear on a subpoena for a doctor’s files. Section 44-115-40 reads: “Except as otherwise provided by law, a physician shall not honor a request for the release of copies of medical records without the receipt of express written consent of the patient or person authorized by law to act on behalf of the patient.” Section 44-115-150 adds that “this chapter does not invalidate the authority of a court to issue a subpoena or of a licensing or disciplinary board of this State to obtain these records as provided by law”.
§§ 44-115-40, 44-115-150Section 19-11-95(D) reads “A provider shall reveal:”, and its first item is “confidences when required by statutory law or by court order for good cause shown to the extent that the patient's care and treatment or the nature and extent of his mental illness or emotional condition are reasonably at issue in a proceeding”. A provider there is “a person licensed under the provisions of any of the following and who enters into a relationship with a patient to provide diagnosis, counseling, or treatment of a mental illness or emotional condition”.
§ 19-11-95(A)(1), (D)(1)A covered health provider also answers to federal law. Backed by a court order, it releases only what the order names: “discloses only the protected health information expressly authorized by such order”. A subpoena alone needs the requester’s satisfactory assurance of notice to the patient or of a qualified protective order. On the notice side, “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);”
45 C.F.R. § 164.512(e)(1)(i)-(iii)The notice lets the patient object: “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” Release then waits until “The time for the individual to raise objections to the court or administrative tribunal has elapsed, and:” either “No objections were filed; or” or “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.”
45 C.F.R. § 164.512(e)(1)(iii)For a records request, we prepare the papers under the Act, and your written quote confirms the steps, before you pay.
Get a Free Quote Online →Each of these points comes from a South Carolina statute or court rule. Most come from the venue, the subpoena’s contents or the service rules.
Before service, we compare the papers we prepare with the statutes and raise anything that needs your input.
Type a town, city or ZIP code to find the county, and the finder names that county’s clerk of court.
The South Carolina Clerk of Court Roster gives each clerk of court’s contact details.
A witness may sit just over the line, so the route changes with the state. Each “No” rests on that state’s own rule text; “Check” means confirm that state’s filing rules for an out-of-state requester.
| State | Act Adopted | Local Attorney Required by the Act | Who Issues |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Carolina | South Carolina Code § 15-47-100 et seq. (2010 Act No. 132) | Check | Clerk of court, discovery county |
| Georgia | O.C.G.A. §§ 24-13-110 to 24-13-116 (2012, HB 46) | No | Clerk of superior court, the witness’s county of residence |
| North Carolina | N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 1F-1 to 1F-7 (S.L. 2011-247) | No | Clerk of court, discovery county |
Each answer cites a South Carolina statute or rule. For questions that apply in every state, see our Subpoena Domestication FAQ. General information, not legal advice.
Yes. Under § 15-47-110 each county’s own elected clerk fills that role, and § 15-47-120(A) puts the request in the discovery county, where that clerk promptly issues the subpoena. The county finder names each county’s Clerk of Court, so a requesting party can match the discovery county to the office that receives the foreign subpoena.
A party. Under § 15-47-120(A), a party submits the foreign subpoena to the clerk of court of the discovery county, and the request is not an appearance in South Carolina courts. Section 15-47-120(B) then has the clerk issue a subpoena for service on the person the foreign subpoena names. Your written quote confirms the route; see the statute section.
Yes. Rule 28(d) lets a South Carolina lawyer, or the clerk of court, issue a subpoena for a deposition or production here for an out-of-state case, once the filing fee is paid. The Court’s note calls the rule consistent with the Act at § 15-47-100 et seq. The Rule 28(d) cards quote both texts.
The foreign subpoena’s terms, plus the names, addresses and telephone numbers of all counsel of record and of any party without counsel: under § 15-47-120(B) it incorporates those terms and carries, or comes with, that list. We prepare that list from the case papers you send, so every side can be reached; see the statute section.
Not since 2010. Each section from § 15-47-100 to § 15-47-160 carries the single history line of 2010 Act No. 132, effective March 30, 2010, and Section 2 of that act applied it to discovery requests in cases already pending that day. Rule 45 itself was last amended by Order dated April 29, 2020. See the enactment card.
Only an adult who is not a party. Under Rule 45(b)(1), which § 15-47-130 applies to a clerk-issued subpoena, any person who is not a party and is at least 18 may serve it. Service follows the summons methods of Rule 4(d) or (j), and a non-party is served in the county the subpoena issues from, under Rule 45(b)(2). See the service cards.
Not always. Rule 45(b)(1) uses the summons methods, abode service included, but under Rule 45(e) an “adequate cause for failure to obey exists” when a witness served at home “did not receive or acknowledge the subpoena”. That is why our servers aim to place the subpoena in the witness’s own hands; see the method card.
Ten days at least. Every party gets a copy of a production or inspection subpoena before the keeper does and ten or more days before the production date, under Rule 45(a)(4). Deposition notice is also written and goes out at least ten days ahead, under Rule 30(b)(1). Counsel sends both notices; see the notice card.
The date and manner of service and who was served. Rule 45(b)(3) has that statement certified by the person who served it and filed with the issuing court’s clerk when proof is needed. Our server signs that statement, and it comes back to you; see the proof card.
Yes, if the parties stipulate in writing or the court orders it on motion, under Rule 30(b)(7). The place of the deposition is wherever the witness answers, and the notary has to be physically with the witness for the whole deposition. Rule 28(a) sets who may take it; see the telephone card.
Not at service; on arrival. Under Rule 45(b)(1), the $25.00 daily fee and mileage at the state employee rate are paid when the witness shows up as commanded, not when the papers are handed over. A subpoena issued for the State or one of its agencies needs no fee or mileage tender at all. See the tender card.
Not for a non-party without a court order. Going over 50 miles beyond the county where they live, work or do business is a ground to quash, Rule 45(c)(3)(A)(ii). Rule 30(a)(2) keeps the deponent in that county or at a convenient place set by court order. See the travel card.
The serving side may no longer inspect or copy the materials without an order of the issuing court, under Rule 45(c)(2)(B), and may move at any time, on notice, for an order to compel. Its deadline runs from service and comes sooner when the compliance time is earlier. The objection calculator gives the last day.
The court in the county where discovery is to be conducted, under § 15-47-150, which applies South Carolina procedure. Rule 45(c)(3)(A) lists the grounds, among them too little time, privilege and undue burden, and § 8-21-320 assesses a fee on each motion filed in the court of common pleas. The motions cards set out each step.
Two statutes, both quoted on the records cards. For physician files, §§ 44-115-40 and 44-115-150 pair a written-consent rule with a court’s power to issue a subpoena. Therapy and counseling confidences fall under § 19-11-95, which sets its own exceptions. How each applies to a given request is a question for counsel. See the records cards.
Yes. Any clerk’s fee appears in the written quote you receive before you pay, together with document preparation and service if ordered. Section 15-47-120(B) has the clerk issue in accordance with the rules of court, and Rule 28(d) ties its own route to a filing fee set by administrative rule of the Supreme Court. See the fee card.
Promptly, with no set number of days: under § 15-47-120(B), the clerk promptly shall issue it. Sending the foreign subpoena, the witness’s address, the counsel list and your dates at the outset keeps that step moving, because the same subsection puts every counsel’s name, address and telephone number on or with the subpoena. The route lists each step.
Rule 45 sets a test rather than a count: under Rule 45(c)(3)(A)(i), failing to allow reasonable time for compliance is a ground to quash or modify. Two fixed periods sit around it, ten days’ party notice under Rule 45(a)(4) and fourteen days to object under Rule 45(c)(2)(B). See the grounds card.
The party requesting copies pays the reasonable costs of reproduction, under Rule 45(c)(2)(A). The side responsible for a records-only subpoena gives another party copies of what was produced on written request, and Rule 45(c)(1) has the issuing side avoid undue burden or expense on the person subpoenaed. See the copies card.
Yes. One written quote, given before you pay, covers preparing the South Carolina subpoena with the counsel list, the step at the clerk of court in the discovery county and, if you order it, service by our server with the certified proof Rule 45(b)(3) calls for, as the route shows. Start your order online with your dates.
One written quote covers document preparation, any issuer’s or clerk’s fee and service if ordered.
Questions? Call (800) 321-2377
Nearby States: Georgia · North Carolina
