To fill out and serve a New Jersey subpoena, download the correct Superior Court form, complete the case caption and compliance details, have it signed by a New Jersey-licensed attorney or the Clerk of the Superior Court, and arrange for personal delivery to the witness along with the statutory attendance and mileage fees at the moment of service. Getting any of those pieces wrong — the wrong form, a missing signature, service without the fee — can void the subpoena.
Pick the Right Form
The New Jersey Courts website offers two free PDF subpoena forms.1New Jersey Courts. Where Can I Find a Subpoena Form Form CN 11008, the Subpoena Ad Testificandum, compels a person to appear and testify under oath at a trial, hearing, or deposition.2New Jersey Courts. Where Can I Obtain Information on Subpoenas Form CN 11010, the Subpoena Duces Tecum, compels the recipient to produce specific documents, electronically stored information, or other tangible items — medical records, financial statements, employment files, emails, contracts, and the like.3New Jersey Courts. Subpoena Duces Tecum
If you need words from a person, use the ad testificandum form. If you need something they have, use the duces tecum form. Need both? The duces tecum form has room to command an appearance and list the materials the witness must bring.
Completing the Form
Both forms open the same way. At the top, identify the court and case:
- Court name: Superior Court of New Jersey
- Division: Law Division or Chancery Division, matching where your case was filed
- County: the venue for your case
- Docket number: the case number assigned at filing
- Party names: the plaintiff and defendant, spelled exactly as they appear on the caption
Below the caption, enter the name and address of the person you are subpoenaing. Then fill in the compliance block: the exact date, time, and physical address where the witness must appear or produce the documents.3New Jersey Courts. Subpoena Duces Tecum
Describing the Documents You Want
On the duces tecum form, be specific in the section that lists items to be produced. A demand for “all files related to the case” invites a motion to quash for overbreadth. Identify document types by name, narrow the date range, and describe each category clearly enough that the recipient knows exactly what to gather. Something like “All invoices, purchase orders, and shipping receipts between ABC Company and XYZ Corp. from January 1, 2024 through December 31, 2025” gives the recipient defined boundaries.
New Jersey court rules explicitly allow a subpoena duces tecum to reach electronically stored information. When you want electronic records, name the format you want — native files with metadata, PDFs, or another agreed format. If you don’t specify, the producing party can hand over the information in whatever format they ordinarily keep it. A recipient who claims the electronic records are not reasonably accessible can seek relief from the court, but the burden of showing that is theirs.
Who Signs the Subpoena
A New Jersey subpoena is issued in the name of the Clerk of the Superior Court, but the Clerk does not have to sign it personally. An attorney licensed in New Jersey may sign and issue a subpoena directly, and that signature carries the same authority as the Clerk’s.2New Jersey Courts. Where Can I Obtain Information on Subpoenas
A self-represented party can also issue a subpoena in the Clerk’s name. In practice, most pro se litigants take the completed form to the Clerk’s office for review and an official signature, because recipients and their attorneys tend to scrutinize a pro se subpoena more closely. Either way, the form must correctly state the court, the case caption, and the witness’s obligation.
Serving the Subpoena
A signed subpoena has no effect until it reaches the witness the right way. New Jersey requires personal service — physically handing the document to the person named on it. Anyone at least 18 years old can perform the service.2New Jersey Courts. Where Can I Obtain Information on Subpoenas Most people hire a professional process server or use a county sheriff’s officer. Process server fees nationally run roughly $45 to $140 for standard delivery, with variation by county and urgency.
Serving a Business
When the recipient is a corporation or other registered business entity, serve the subpoena on its registered agent — the person or entity the business has designated to accept legal papers. You can find a company’s registered agent through the New Jersey Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services business records search. If a business has failed to maintain a registered agent, New Jersey law allows substituted service through the state official or agency where the entity was required to register.4Justia. New Jersey Code 2A-15-30.1 – Service of Process on Business Entity; Substituted Service
The Witness Fee Must Be Tendered at Service
This is where subpoenas most often fail. In a civil case, the person serving the subpoena has to hand the witness an attendance fee and a mileage allowance at the same moment they deliver the document. Skip it and the service can be voided.
The statutory numbers are small. New Jersey sets the witness attendance fee at $2.00 per day. If the witness lives in a different county from the place of appearance, the mileage allowance is $2.00 for every 30 miles of round-trip travel between home and the place of attendance.5Justia. New Jersey Code 22A-1-4 – Fees and Mileage of Witnesses and Others The amounts have not been updated in decades, but tendering them is not optional. One exception: a witness subpoenaed for the State in a criminal case or for an indigent defendant does not receive the fee at the time of service; the sheriff or municipal court clerk pays it at the end of trial.
Filing the Proof of Service
The back of each subpoena form contains a Proof of Service section. After delivery, the server fills it out, recording the date and manner of service, confirming that the required fee was tendered, and signing it as a sworn statement.3New Jersey Courts. Subpoena Duces Tecum File the completed Proof of Service with the court and keep a copy. You will need it if the witness fails to appear and you have to ask the court to enforce the subpoena.
Two Situations the Standard Steps Don’t Fully Cover
Medical Records
A duces tecum subpoena aimed at a healthcare provider for patient records is not enough on its own. Under HIPAA, a provider can release protected health information in response to a subpoena only if one of two conditions is met: the patient has been given written notice of the request and a chance to object, or the requesting party has obtained a qualified protective order from the court.6eCFR. 45 CFR 164.512 Serving a subpoena on a hospital or doctor’s office without meeting one of these conditions will result in the provider refusing the records, and the provider is legally correct to refuse.
To satisfy the notice route, you show the provider a written statement confirming that you made a good-faith effort to notify the patient in writing, that the notice described the proceeding well enough for the patient to raise an objection, and that the objection deadline has passed with none filed or all objections resolved. The alternative is a qualified protective order, which asks the court to limit how the health information can be used and to require its return or destruction after the case ends. Either path adds time, so plan for it.
Out-of-State Witnesses
New Jersey Court Rule 4:11-4 adopts the Uniform Interstate Depositions and Discovery Act. To compel discovery from someone in another state, you take your New Jersey subpoena to the clerk of court in the county and state where the witness lives or works. That clerk issues a local subpoena that incorporates the terms of the New Jersey subpoena. Service and any challenges — motions to quash, protective orders — are handled under the laws of the state where the witness is located, not New Jersey.
What Happens If the Witness Ignores It
Ignoring a subpoena in New Jersey is treated as contempt of court. If a witness refuses to appear, refuses to answer, or fails to produce the demanded documents, the issuing authority can apply to the Superior Court for an order compelling compliance.7Justia. New Jersey Code 2A-67A-3 – Subpoenas A judge can also issue an attachment to bring the noncompliant witness before the court.8Justia. New Jersey Code 19-34-56 – Disobedience of Subpoena, Penalty Contempt sanctions can include fines and, in serious cases, imprisonment until the witness complies. Before imposing those penalties, the court will confirm that the subpoena was properly served and that any required witness fees were tendered. That is why the small steps at service — the personal handoff, the $2.00 fee, the signed Proof of Service — carry so much weight.