A Tennessee subpoena form is issued by the court clerk already signed and sealed but otherwise blank; you request it from the clerk of the court where your case is pending, fill in the witness, appearance, and document details yourself, and then have it served on the person named. You can download the standard form from the Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts or pick one up at your local circuit or chancery clerk’s office. The form handles both testimony subpoenas and subpoenas for document production (subpoena duces tecum), and a single subpoena can command both at once.1Tennessee State Courts. Tennessee Rule of Civil Procedure 45.01 – For Attendance of Witnesses – Form – Issuance
One boundary before anything else: this walkthrough covers civil subpoenas under Rule 45 of the Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure. Criminal subpoenas follow a parallel but separate track under Tennessee Rule of Criminal Procedure 17, though the clerk-signs-blank mechanic is the same.2Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts. Tennessee Rules of Criminal Procedure – Rule 17 Subpoenas
Getting the Form From the Clerk
Under Rule 45.01, the clerk issues the subpoena to you already signed but blank. You do not draft the subpoena and bring it in for the clerk’s approval. You request the subpoena, receive the signed form, and then complete it before service.1Tennessee State Courts. Tennessee Rule of Civil Procedure 45.01 – For Attendance of Witnesses – Form – Issuance The signature and seal are what give the document legal force.
For a hearing or trial subpoena, the clerk of the court where your case is pending issues the form, and it can be served anywhere in Tennessee.3Tennessee State Courts. Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 45.05 – Subpoena for a Hearing or Trial – Personal Attendance
Filling in the Blanks
Every field must be accurate. A mistake in a name, date, or address is grounds to challenge the subpoena, and a sloppy document description is the most common reason a document subpoena gets quashed.
- Court and case information: the name of the court (circuit, chancery, criminal, etc.), the county, the docket or case file number, and the names of the plaintiff and defendant.
- Witness identification: the full name, address, and telephone number of the person being subpoenaed.
- Appearance details: the exact date, time, and location where the witness must appear, including courtroom, floor, and building address.
- Documents or items (duces tecum only): a specific description of what the witness must produce. The form has a space for listing books, papers, documents, electronically stored information, or tangible things the witness must bring or make available for inspection and copying.4Tennessee State Courts. Tennessee Subpoena Form
Be specific when you describe documents. A request for “all records related to the plaintiff” invites a motion to quash as unreasonably broad. Identify document types, date ranges, and the people or transactions involved. A tight description protects your subpoena and makes compliance easier.
Tendering Witness Fees
Tennessee law entitles subpoenaed witnesses in civil cases to compensation, and failing to deal with it gives the witness a basis to object. Under TCA § 24-4-101(b), a witness attending a court of record under subpoena in a civil matter can request $30 per day for attendance. A witness who lives more than ten miles from the court can also request mileage reimbursement at the rate set by the state’s comprehensive travel regulations, currently $0.725 per mile as of January 1, 2026.5Justia. Tennessee Code Title 24 Evidence and Witnesses 24-4-101 – Compensation of Witnesses6Tennessee Department of Labor & Workforce Development. 2026 Mileage Rates for Travel Reimbursement
The statute lets the issuing party advance attendance fees and travel expenses to the witness up front, and advancing them at the time of service is common practice. It removes one of the easiest objections a witness can raise.
Serving the Subpoena
A subpoena has no legal force until it is properly served. Under Rule 45.03, service can be made by any person authorized to serve process, which includes sheriffs, their deputies, and private process servers. The witness can also acknowledge service in writing directly on the subpoena, which eliminates the need for formal delivery. Service is made by delivering, or offering to deliver, a copy of the subpoena to the person named.7Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts. Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 45.03 – Service
Tennessee attorneys have an additional option under TCA § 23-2-105. The attorney, or a designated agent whose name appears on the subpoena, may serve it in person. Both the attorney and the agent must sign the subpoena, and the person who actually completes service must file an affidavit of return with the issuing clerk stating who was served and when, where, and how.8Justia. Tennessee Code 23-2-105 – Service of Subpoenas
The Return of Service
After delivery, the server completes the Return of Service section on the form, recording the date, time, and location of service and the identity of the person served. The completed return must be filed with the court clerk. Without a filed return, the court has no proof the witness received proper notice, and a witness who was not properly served cannot be held in contempt for failing to appear.
How Early to Serve
Tennessee’s civil rules do not set a specific minimum number of days before a hearing that a subpoena must be served. Serve as early as possible. A subpoena served the day before trial gives the witness a strong argument that compliance was unreasonable. For juvenile court proceedings, the rules are explicit: attendance subpoenas must be served at least five calendar days before the hearing, and subpoenas for document production require at least ten calendar days.9Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts. Rule 107 – Subpoenas Those benchmarks are a reasonable minimum in any Tennessee proceeding.
Extra Steps for Medical Records
Subpoenaing medical records triggers additional notice requirements under HIPAA. When your subpoena requests healthcare records, you must send a copy of the subpoena to the patient (or their attorney) by mail or fax and then wait 21 days before the records can be produced. During that window, the patient can file a written objection and seek a protective order under Rule 26.03. If no objection arrives within 21 days, the records custodian can process the request. The attorney’s or party’s signature on the subpoena serves as a certification that the required HIPAA notice was provided.10Chancery Clerk and Master Nashville. Tennessee Subpoena Form Skip this step and the records custodian will refuse to produce, and they will be right to do so.
Electronically Stored Information
When a subpoena requests electronically stored information (emails, database records, digital files), Rule 45.08 governs how production works. If the subpoena does not specify a format, the responding person produces the ESI in the format they ordinarily maintain it or in a reasonably usable form. The recipient does not have to produce the same information in multiple formats.11Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts. Rule 45.08 – Duties in Responding to Subpoena A recipient can also push back on ESI requests that would be unreasonably expensive or burdensome. If the dispute reaches the court, the responding person has to show the information is not reasonably accessible, but the court can still order production for good cause and may require the requesting party to cover the costs.
If the Recipient Objects or Ignores It
A non-party witness who receives a subpoena duces tecum can serve a written objection on the issuing party within 21 days of service. Filing the objection pauses the obligation to produce, and the burden shifts to the issuing party to file a motion to compel. Missing the 21-day window waives all objections except the right to seek reimbursement for reasonable production costs.12Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts. Rule 45.07 – Protection of Persons Subject to Subpoena
For any type of subpoena, the recipient can file a motion to quash or modify. Under Rule 45.07, the court will quash or limit a subpoena it finds “unreasonable and oppressive.” The Advisory Commission comments set the deadline at 14 days after service, or before the compliance date if that comes sooner. Separately, either the recipient or a party can seek a protective order under Rule 26.03 by showing good cause that compliance would cause annoyance, embarrassment, oppression, or undue burden or expense.13Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts. Rule 26.03 – Protective Orders
A properly served subpoena that is simply ignored is a different problem. Willful disobedience of any lawful court process qualifies as contempt of court under TCA § 29-9-102(3).14Justia. Tennessee Code 29-9-102 – Scope of Power Criminal contempt in circuit, chancery, and appellate courts carries a fine of up to $50 and up to 10 days in jail; in other courts the cap is a $10 fine unless another statute says otherwise.15Justia. Tennessee Code 29-9-103 – Punishment Civil contempt is separate. Its purpose is coercion, not punishment, and a witness can be confined until they agree to testify or produce the documents. Those statutory caps do not apply because the witness holds the key to their own release.