The Arkansas subpoena form is a fill-in document issued under Rule 45 of the Arkansas Rules of Civil Procedure that commands a person to appear and testify, produce documents, or both in a Circuit Court case. You can get it from the Circuit Court Clerk’s office in the county where the case is pending, or download it from the Arkansas Judiciary’s website in a version formatted to comply with Rule 45.1Arkansas Courts. Subpoena Form, Arkansas Rule of Civil Procedure 45
Pick the Right Type Before You Fill Anything Out
Arkansas recognizes two basic subpoena uses, and the same form handles both through checkboxes.
A standard subpoena for attendance orders a named person to appear at a set date, time, and place to give sworn testimony. That could be a deposition, a pretrial hearing, or the trial itself.
A subpoena duces tecum commands someone to produce documents, electronically stored information, or other tangible items. You can require records alone without any testimony, or combine both commands in one subpoena. If you want documents, list them with enough specificity that the recipient knows exactly what to gather. Vague requests invite objections.2Arkansas Courts. Subpoena in a Civil Case
What Goes on the Form
The form has checkboxes for whether you’re commanding attendance, document production, or both. You need to complete:
- The case caption: court name, full names of all parties, and the case number.
- The full name and address of the person being subpoenaed.
- The exact date, time, and location for appearance or delivery.
- For a duces tecum, a detailed description of every document, record, or item you want produced.
Who Issues the Subpoena
A completed form has no legal force until it is formally issued. Two people can do that in Arkansas: the Clerk of the Circuit Court, who signs it and applies the court’s official seal, or any attorney of record in the case, who signs as an officer of the court. Either method creates a binding legal command.2Arkansas Courts. Subpoena in a Civil Case
Serving It the Right Way
Once issued, the subpoena has to be personally delivered to the named individual. Mailing it or leaving it on a doorstep does not count. Two categories of people can perform the delivery:
- The sheriff of the county where service takes place, or a deputy sheriff.
- Any other person who is not a party to the lawsuit and is at least 18 years old, which covers professional process servers, paralegals, and other uninvolved adults.3Code of Arkansas Rules. 17 CAR 240-1316 – Subpoenas
How Far in Advance
You cannot drop a subpoena on someone the night before. For a trial or hearing, service must happen at least two days beforehand. For a deposition, the minimum is five business days. A court can shorten either deadline for good cause, but don’t rely on that unless the reason for late notice is compelling.2Arkansas Courts. Subpoena in a Civil Case
The Fees You Must Hand Over at Delivery
This is where subpoenas most often fail. At the moment of service, you must give the witness the fees required by Rule 45(e): an attendance fee of $30.00 per day and travel mileage at $0.25 per mile, calculated from the witness’s home to the place of appearance. If you don’t tender those fees when the subpoena is delivered, service is invalid and the witness has no obligation to comply.3Code of Arkansas Rules. 17 CAR 240-1316 – Subpoenas
This is not something you can reimburse later. The money has to be physically offered alongside the subpoena. Skip it, and your key witness can walk away with the paper in hand and owe you nothing.
Proof of Service
After delivering the subpoena, the server completes a proof of service, typically an affidavit describing the date, time, place, and manner of delivery.4Code of Arkansas Rules. 23 CAR 301-1318 – Subpoenas File it with the court. Without a proof of service on record, you have no official evidence the witness was notified, which matters if you later need to enforce compliance.
If the Recipient Objects
A subpoena is not the final word. The person who receives one can file a motion to quash or modify it. Common grounds include that the subpoena demands privileged information, imposes an unreasonable burden, seeks material that is not relevant, or was served improperly.
If you’re the recipient and think some requested documents are protected by attorney-client privilege or another privilege, raise the objection promptly rather than staying silent. Courts generally expect the recipient to identify which specific documents are being withheld and the basis for each privilege claim. Silently refusing to produce anything is treated very differently from a properly filed objection.
If you issued the subpoena and get an objection, you can ask the court to compel compliance. Until the judge rules, the recipient’s obligation on the disputed items is effectively paused.
What Happens If a Subpoena Is Ignored
A person who is validly served and simply doesn’t appear or produce what was demanded faces contempt of court. The court’s options run from monetary fines through, in extreme cases, jail time. More often, the judge orders compliance and requires the noncompliant person to pay the attorney’s fees the other side spent bringing the contempt motion.
Courts hold a hearing before imposing sanctions. Legitimate defenses exist, and the two most relevant to Rule 45 are improper service and failure to tender the required witness fees at delivery. The burden of showing that service was done correctly falls on the party who issued the subpoena, which is one more reason to get every step right the first time.