On or before January 1, 2010, the Judicial Council shall do all of the following:
§ 2029.390.Judicial Council; preparation of forms
Title 4. Civil Discovery Act · Chapter 12. Discovery in Action Pending Outside California · Article 1. Interstate and International Depositions and Discovery Act · Enacted 2008 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 29, 2026
In one sentenceSection 2029.390 required the Judicial Council, by January 1, 2010, to prepare or adapt an application form and one or more subpoena forms with clear instructions for issuing a subpoena under the clerk-issuance or attorney-issuance procedures.
Full Text of § 2029.390
(b) Prepare one or more new subpoena forms that include clear instructions for use in issuance of a subpoena under Section 2029.300 or 2029.350. Alternatively, the Judicial Council may modify one or more existing subpoena forms to include clear instructions for use in issuance of a subpoena under Section 2029.300 or 2029.350.
Plain-English Summary
A reciprocity process built around submitting paperwork to a clerk only works if the paperwork itself is standardized, and this section made the Judicial Council responsible for that. By January 1, 2010, the Judicial Council had to prepare an application form for parties to use when requesting a subpoena under the clerk-issuance process.
The Judicial Council also had to prepare, or alternatively modify existing forms to serve as, one or more subpoena forms carrying clear instructions for use whether the subpoena is issued by a clerk or by an attorney under the local-counsel process. Those standardized forms are what make the whole system practical, letting out-of-state litigants and California clerks and attorneys alike work from the same template rather than improvising a subpoena's contents case by case.
Frequently Asked Questions
What was the Judicial Council required to prepare under this section?
An application form for requesting a subpoena and one or more subpoena forms with clear instructions, or modifications of existing forms to serve that purpose.
By when did the Judicial Council have to complete these forms?
On or before January 1, 2010.
Do the same subpoena forms work for both clerk-issued and attorney-issued subpoenas?
Amendment History
(Added by Stats.2008, c. 231 (A.B.2193), § 3.)
Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from
the West's Annotated California Codes / Thomson Reuters. Enacted by the California Legislature.
Last verified July 29, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: judicial council subpoena forms interstate discoveryuniform subpoena application form california