(a) Purpose. This rule governs depositions and discovery conducted in Arkansas in connection with a civil action pending in another state.
Rule 45.1.Subpoena for Interstate Depositions and Discovery
Not amended since adoption on record · Last verified July 13, 2026
In one sentenceRule 45.1 lets a party in a lawsuit pending in another state obtain a subpoena from an Arkansas circuit clerk to depose a witness or gather records located in Arkansas, without hiring local counsel or opening a full case file.
Full Text of Rule 45.1
(b) Definitions.
(1) "Foreign jurisdiction" means a state other than Arkansas.
(2) "Foreign subpoena" means a subpoena issued under authority of a court of record of a foreign jurisdiction.
(3) "Person" means an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, public corporation, government, or governmental subdivision, agency or instrumentality, or any other legal or commercial entity.
(4) "State" means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, a federally recognized Indian tribe, or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.
(5) "Subpoena" means a document, however denominated, issued under authority of a court of record requiring a person to:
(A) attend and give testimony at a deposition; or
(B) produce and permit inspection and copying of designated books, documents, records, electronically stored information, or tangible things in the possession, custody, or control of the person.
(c) Issuance of Subpoena for Interstate Depositions and Discovery.
(1) To request issuance of a subpoena under this rule, a party must submit a foreign subpoena to the circuit clerk in the county in which discovery is sought to be conducted. A request for the issuance of a subpoena under this rule does not constitute an appearance in the courts of this state.
(2) When a party submits a foreign subpoena to a circuit clerk, the clerk, in accordance with the court’s procedure, shall promptly issue a subpoena for service upon the person to which the foreign subpoena is directed. At the time of issuance of the subpoena, the circuit clerk shall not open a case and shall not collect a fee other than that provided by Ark. Code Ann. section 21-6-402(b)(1). Return or proof of service shall not be made to the circuit clerk but to the attorney who requested the subpoena, and he or she shall retain it and furnish a copy to any party or to the deponent upon request.
(3) The person to whom the subpoena is directed may within ten days after the service or on or before the time specified in the subpoena for compliance if such time is less than ten days, serve upon the attorney causing the subpoena to be issued written objection to the subpoena or discovery sought. If objection is made, the party who requested the subpoena shall not be entitled to proceed with the deposition or discovery except pursuant to an order of the court. Upon an objection, the party who requested the subpoena may move to enforce the subpoena by filing a motion, with notice to the subject of the subpoena, for an order to enforce the subpoena and proceed with discovery. The motion shall be filed with the circuit clerk. Upon the filing of the motion, the circuit clerk shall assign the matter a case number and collect the applicable fee. An application under subdivision (f) of this rule for a protective order or to quash or modify the subpoena shall be filed and heard in this case, and no additional fees shall be assessed.
(4) A subpoena under subdivision (c)(2) of this rule must:
(A) conform to the requirements of Rule 45, including the approved Form of Subpoena and Notice to Person Subject to Subpoenas, but may otherwise incorporate the terms used in the foreign subpoena so long as they conform to these rules; and
(B) 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.
(e) Deposition, Production, and Inspection. Provisions of these rules, including Rule 26.1 (j), Rule 34, and Rule 45 (b) and (e), relating to compliance with subpoenas to attend and give testimony, produce designated books, documents, records, electronically stored information, or tangible things apply to subpoenas issued under subdivision (c) of this rule.
(f) Application to Court. An application to the court for a protective order or to enforce, quash, or modify a subpoena issued under subdivision (c) of this rule must comply with these rules, including Rule 26(c), Rule 45(b) and (e), and be submitted to the court in the county in which discovery is to be conducted.
Reporter's Notes
Reporter’s Notes (2018): Rule 45 (f), “Depositions for Use in Out-of-State Proceedings,” was replaced with new Rule 45.1. This new procedure is based on the Uniform Interstate Depositions and Discovery Act that was adopted by the National Conference of Commissioners of Uniform State Laws in 2007.
Rule 45.1 is limited to discovery in state courts, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, and the territories of the United States, but does not extend to include foreign countries.
Arkansas’s adoption of the uniform provision does not include section (2)(5)(C) (“permit inspection of premises under the control of the person”) in light of Ark. R. Civ. P. 34(c).
The Uniform Law Commission describes the use of the procedure by way of an example in which a case filed in Kansas (the trial state) has a witness to be deposed that lives in Arkansas (the discovery state). A lawyer in the Kansas case will issue a subpoena in Kansas. That lawyer will then prepare an Arkansas subpoena that has the same terms as the Kansas subpoena. The lawyer will present the completed and issued Kansas subpoena and the Arkansas subpoena to the clerk in Arkansas. The Arkansas clerk, upon being given the Kansas subpoena, will then issue the Arkansas subpoena. The Arkansas subpoena will be served on the deponent in accordance with Arkansas law. The advantages of this process are readily apparent. The only documents that need to be presented to the Arkansas clerk are the subpoena issued in the trial state and the draft Arkansas subpoena. There is no requirement to hire local counsel to have the subpoena issued in Arkansas, and there is no need to present the matter to a judge before the subpoena can be issued. In effect, the Arkansas clerk simply reissues the subpoena of the trial state, and the new subpoena is then served on the deponent. Nothing in this rule limits any party from applying for appropriate relief in the trial state. Applications to the court that affect only the parties to the action can be made in the trial state and would presumably be made and ruled on before the deposition subpoena is ever presented to the clerk in Arkansas. The issuance of the Arkansas subpoena invokes Arkansas jurisdiction in order to: enforce the subpoena; quash or modify the subpoena; issue any protective order or resolve any other dispute relating to the subpoena; and impose sanctions. The discovery to be conducted in Arkansas must comply with the laws of Arkansas, which has a significant interest in protecting its residents who become nonparty witnesses in an action pending in a foreign jurisdiction from any unreasonable or unduly burdensome discovery request. Any application to the Arkansas court relating to the discovery must comply with the law of Arkansas, including Arkansas’s law governing lawyers appearing in its courts. This rule does not change existing state rules governing out-of-state lawyers appearing in its courts.
Subsections (c)(2) and (3) address when a case is opened under this rule. In the routine case, a file is not opened, and the only fee charged is the fee under Ark. Code Ann. § 21-6-402(b)(1). In the event, the person to whom the subpoena is directed makes an objection, and the party requesting the subpoena wants to enforce the subpoena, then the party seeking to enforce the subpoena opens a case with the circuit clerk, a case number is assigned, and the applicable filing fee under Ark. Code Ann. § 21-6-403 is assessed.
Plain-English Summary
Litigation rarely stays inside one state's borders. A case filed in Kansas might need testimony or documents from a witness who lives in Little Rock. Rule 45.1 builds a bridge for that situation, adapted from a model law that most states have now adopted. A lawyer handling the out-of-state case drafts an Arkansas-style subpoena that mirrors the one already issued in the trial state and hands both documents to the circuit clerk in the Arkansas county where the discovery will happen. The clerk reissues it as an Arkansas subpoena, and it gets served on the Arkansas witness like any other subpoena. No Arkansas lawsuit needs to be opened, no judge needs to sign off in advance, and the requesting lawyer does not need to associate local counsel just to get the subpoena on paper.
That ease comes with a boundary. Rule 45.1 covers subpoenas from other American states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and federally recognized tribes -- not foreign countries, which go through different treaties and procedures. The clerk's role at the issuance stage is administrative: no case is opened and no fee beyond the modest statutory issuance fee is collected. Proof of service goes back to the requesting attorney, not to the court file, since there generally is no court file yet.
The rule only escalates into a real Arkansas proceeding when something goes wrong. If the Arkansas witness objects to the subpoena within ten days (or by the compliance deadline, if that comes sooner), the requesting party cannot push forward -- discovery stops unless a judge orders otherwise. At that point the party seeking the deposition or documents can move to enforce, and only then does the circuit clerk open a case, assign a number, and charge the standard filing fee. Any request for a protective order, or to quash or modify the subpoena, gets filed and decided in that same case.
Once issued, the subpoena has to look and act like a normal Arkansas subpoena. It must meet Rule 45's form requirements and carry the names and contact information of the lawyers and unrepresented parties in the out-of-state case, and it has to be served the way Rule 45(c) requires. The substantive rules that govern compliance -- objecting to scope, producing documents, sitting for a deposition -- come from Arkansas's own discovery rules, because Arkansas has an interest in shielding its residents from discovery demands that would be unreasonable or overly burdensome under its own law, even though the underlying lawsuit belongs to someone else's court.
Frequently Asked Questions
What counts as a "foreign subpoena" under Rule 45.1?
Any subpoena issued by a court of record in another state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, or a federally recognized Indian tribe. Subpoenas from foreign countries do not qualify -- Rule 45.1 is limited to domestic, sister-jurisdiction discovery.
How do I get an Arkansas subpoena issued for a case pending in another state?
Present the already-issued foreign subpoena, along with a proposed Arkansas subpoena carrying the same terms, to the circuit clerk in the Arkansas county where the witness or records are located. The clerk reissues it as an Arkansas subpoena for service, without opening a case or requiring a judge to approve it first.
Does requesting a subpoena under this rule mean I have filed a lawsuit in Arkansas?
No. Submitting a foreign subpoena to the clerk does not count as an appearance in Arkansas courts, and no case file is opened unless the process later moves into the enforcement stage described below.
What happens if the Arkansas witness objects to the subpoena?
The witness has ten days after service (or less, if the subpoena allows less time to comply) to serve a written objection on the requesting attorney. Once an objection is made, the requesting party cannot proceed with the deposition or discovery without a court order, and any motion to enforce the subpoena is what opens a case with the circuit clerk.
Which state’s law governs how the discovery is conducted -- Arkansas or the trial state?
Arkansas law governs the mechanics of discovery happening within Arkansas, including objections, protective orders, and enforcement, because the witness is an Arkansas resident and the discovery is physically occurring there. The rule does not disturb whatever the trial-state court has already ordered about the underlying case.
Can a subpoena under this rule require the witness to let someone inspect their property?
Do I need to hire an Arkansas lawyer to use this procedure?
Not to get the subpoena issued -- that is the point of the rule. But if the matter escalates to a motion to enforce, quash, or modify the subpoena, the case proceeds like any other Arkansas court matter, which typically calls for counsel admitted or appearing properly in Arkansas.
Source & verification. Rule text, Reporter's Notes, and amendment
history are reproduced verbatim from the Arkansas Rules of Civil Procedure, prescribed by
the Arkansas Supreme Court. The plain-English summary is original and written by us.
Last verified July 13, 2026. ·
Official source
Also known as: interstate deposition arkansasUIDDA arkansasout-of-state subpoena arkansasforeign subpoenasubpoena for case in another statedeposition subpoena out of state witnessreissue subpoena arkansas clerk