Rule 1.1701.Subpoena

Division XVII: Subpoenas · Last amended October 9, 2009 · Last verified July 15, 2026

In one sentenceRule 1.1701 governs the form, issuance, service, and enforcement of subpoenas in Iowa civil practice, setting required contents, who may issue and serve them, the protections available to a person commanded to testify or produce material, and the duties owed when responding to a document subpoena.

Full Text of Rule 1.1701

Text sizeJump to: (117011) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)

1.1701(1) Form and contents.

a. Requirements. Every subpoena must:

(1) State the court from which it issued;

(2) State the title of the action and its docket number;

(3) Command each person to whom it is directed to do the following at a specified time and place: attend and testify; produce designated documents, electronically stored information, or tangible things in that person's possession, custody, or control; or permit the inspection of premises; and

(4) Set out the text of rules 1.1701 (4) and 1.1701 (5).

b. Command to attend a deposition; notice of the recording method. A subpoena commanding attendance at a deposition must state the method for recording the testimony.

c. Combining or separating a command to produce or to permit inspection; specifying the form for electronically stored information. A command to produce documents, electronically stored information, or tangible things or to permit the inspection of premises may be included in a subpoena commanding attendance at a deposition, hearing, or trial, or may be set out in a separate subpoena. A subpoena may specify the form or forms in which electronically stored information is to be produced.

d. Command to produce; included obligations. A command in a subpoena to produce documents, electronically stored information, or tangible things requires the responding party to permit inspection, copying, testing, or sampling of the materials.

e. Forms for subpoenas. Subpoena forms can be found in rule 1.1901, Form 13, 14 and 15.

(2) Issued by whom. The clerk must issue a subpoena, signed but otherwise in blank, to a party who requests it. That party must complete it before service. A request may be made either orally or in writing. An attorney licensed or otherwise authorized to practice law in Iowa also may issue and sign a subpoena as an officer of the court.

(3) Service.

a. By whom; tendering fees; serving a copy of certain subpoenas. Any person who is at least 18 years old and not a party may serve a subpoena. Serving a subpoena requires delivering a copy to the named person and, if the subpoena requires that person's attendance and, if demanded, tendering the fees for one day's attendance and traveling fees to and from the court. If the subpoena commands the production of documents, electronically stored information, or tangible things or the inspection of premises before trial, then before it is served, a notice must be served on each party.

b. Permissible place of service. A subpoena may be served at any place:

(1) Within the state of Iowa;

(2) That the court authorizes on motion and for good cause, if a statute so provides.

c. Proof of service. Proving service, when necessary, requires filing with the issuing court a statement showing the date and manner of service and the names of persons served. The server must certify the statement in accordance with Iowa Code section 622.1.

(4) Protecting a person subject to a subpoena.

a. Avoiding undue burden or expense; sanctions. A party or attorney responsible for issuing and serving a subpoena must take reasonable steps to avoid imposing undue burden or expense on a person subject to the subpoena. The issuing court must enforce this duty and impose an appropriate sanction, which may include lost earnings and reasonable attorney's fees, on a party or attorney who fails to comply.

b. Command to produce materials or permit inspection.

(1) Appearance not required. A person commanded to produce documents, electronically stored information, or tangible things, or to permit the inspection of premises, need not appear in person at the place of production or inspection unless also commanded to appear for a deposition, hearing, or trial.

(2) Objections. A person commanded to produce documents or tangible things or to permit inspection may serve on the party or attorney designated in the subpoena a written objection to inspecting, copying, testing or sampling any or all of the materials or to inspecting the premises, or to producing electronically stored information in the form or forms requested. The objection must be served before the earlier of the time specified for compliance or 14 days after the subpoena is served. If an objection is made, the following rules apply:

1. At any time, on notice to the commanded person, the serving party may move the issuing court for an order compelling production or inspection.

2. These acts may be required only as directed in the order, and the order must protect a person who is neither a party nor a party's officer from significant expense resulting from compliance.

c. Attendance. Any party shall be permitted to attend at the same time and place and for the same purposes specified in the subpoena. No prior notice of intent to attend is required.

d. Quashing or modifying a subpoena.

(1) When required. On timely motion, the issuing court must quash or modify a subpoena that:

1. Fails to allow a reasonable time to comply;

2. Requires a person who is neither a party nor a party's officer to travel more than 50 miles from where that person resides, is employed, or regularly transacts business in person, except that a person may be ordered to attend trial anywhere within the state in which the person is served with a subpoena;

3. Requires disclosure of privileged or other protected matter, if no exception or waiver applies; or

4. Subjects a person to undue burden.

(2) When permitted. To protect a person subject to or affected by a subpoena, the issuing court may, on motion, quash or modify the subpoena if it requires:

1. Disclosing a trade secret or other confidential research, development, or commercial information; or

2. Disclosing an unretained expert's opinion or information that does not describe specific occurrences in dispute and results from the expert's study that was not requested by a party.

3. A person who is neither a party nor a party's officer to incur substantial expense to travel more than 50 miles to attend trial.

(3) Specifying conditions as an alternative. In the circumstances described in rule 1.1701 (4)(d)(2), the court may, instead of quashing or modifying a subpoena, order appearance or production under specified conditions if the serving party:

1. Shows a substantial need for the testimony or material that cannot be otherwise met without undue hardship; and

2. Ensures that the subpoenaed person will be reasonably compensated.

(5) Duties in responding to a subpoena.

a. Producing documents or electronically stored information. These procedures apply to producing documents or electronically stored information:

(1) Documents. A person responding to a subpoena to produce documents must produce them as they are kept in the ordinary course of business or must organize and label them to correspond to the categories in the demand.

(2) Form for producing electronically stored information not specified. If a subpoena does not specify a form for producing electronically stored information, the person responding must produce it in a form or forms in which it is ordinarily maintained or in a reasonably usable form or forms.

(3) Electronically stored information produced in only one form. The person responding need not produce the same electronically stored information in more than one form.

(4) Inaccessible electronically stored information. The person responding need not provide discovery of electronically stored information from sources that the person identifies as not reasonably accessible because of undue burden or cost. On motion to compel discovery or for a protective order, the person responding must show that the information is not reasonably accessible because of undue burden or cost. If that showing is made, the court may nonetheless order discovery from such sources if the requesting party shows good cause, considering the limitations of rule 1.504 (1)(b). The court may specify conditions for the discovery.

b. Claiming privilege or protection.

(1) Information withheld. A person withholding subpoenaed information under a claim that it is privileged or subject to protection as trial-preparation material must:

1. Expressly make the claim; and

2. Describe the nature of the withheld documents, communications, or tangible things in a manner that, without revealing information itself privileged or protected, will enable the parties to assess the claim.

(2) Information produced. If information produced in response to a subpoena is subject to a claim of privilege or of protection as trial-preparation material, the person making the claim may notify any party that received the information of the claim and the basis for it. After being notified, a party must promptly return, sequester, or destroy the specified information and any copies it has; must not use or disclose the information until the claim is resolved; must take reasonable steps to retrieve the information if the party disclosed it before being notified; and may promptly present the information to the court under seal for a determination of the claim. The person who produced the information must preserve the information until the claim is resolved.

(6) Duties of issuer of subpoena; producing copies of materials obtained by subpoena. When a party on whose behalf a subpoena under rule 1.1701 (1) has been issued thereby creates or obtains copies of designated electronically stored information, books, papers, documents or tangible things, that party shall make available a duplicate of such copies at the request of any other party, who shall be responsible for payment of the reasonable cost of making the copies.

(7) Contempt. The issuing court may hold in contempt a person who, having been served and if necessary been provided fees and traveling expenses allowed by law, fails without adequate excuse to obey the subpoena. A nonparty's failure to obey must be excused if the subpoena purports to require the nonparty to attend or produce at a place outside the limits of rule 1.1701 (4)(d)(1)2.

End

Amendment History

[Report October 31, 1997, effective January 24, 1998; November 9, 2001, effective February 15, 2002; February 14, 2008, effective May 1, 2008; August 10, 2009, effective October 9, 2009]

Plain-English Summary

Rule 1.1701 is Iowa's general subpoena rule, covering everything from what a subpoena must say to what happens when the person served with one objects. Every subpoena must identify the issuing court and the case's title and docket number, and it must command the recipient to attend and testify, produce documents, electronically stored information, or tangible things, or permit inspection of premises. A subpoena commanding attendance at a deposition must also state the method for recording the testimony, and a command to produce or inspect can be folded into the same subpoena or issued separately. The clerk issues subpoenas signed but otherwise blank to a requesting party, who fills them in before service; an Iowa-licensed attorney may also issue and sign a subpoena directly as an officer of the court.

Any adult who is not a party may serve a subpoena, by delivering a copy to the named person and, when attendance is required and demanded, tendering one day's attendance fee and travel expenses. If the subpoena commands production of documents or inspection of premises ahead of trial, notice of that command must go to every other party before the subpoena is served on the person commanded, so no one is surprised by evidence gathered outside their view.

The rule builds in protection for the person on the receiving end. The party or attorney issuing the subpoena must take reasonable steps to avoid undue burden or expense, on pain of court-ordered sanctions that can include lost earnings and attorney's fees. A person commanded to produce documents need not appear in person unless also commanded to a deposition, hearing, or trial, and may object in writing within 14 days, or by the compliance date if earlier, rather than complying outright. On timely motion, the court must quash or modify a subpoena that gives an unreasonable time to comply, requires a non-party to travel more than 50 miles from home, work, or where the person regularly transacts business (except to attend trial anywhere in the state), demands privileged material, or subjects the person to undue burden — and the court may quash or modify it in other circumstances, such as protecting a trade secret or an unretained expert's opinion, or ordering compliance under specified conditions instead.

Once a subpoena is answered, separate duties take over. Documents must be produced as kept in the ordinary course of business or organized to match the categories demanded, and electronically stored information must be produced in the form specified or, absent one, in a reasonably usable form. A person withholding material on a claim of privilege or trial-preparation protection must say so expressly and describe what is withheld well enough for the other parties to assess the claim. Failing to obey a subpoena without adequate excuse, after being properly served and paid any required fees, exposes the recipient to contempt — though a non-party's noncompliance is excused if the subpoena tried to reach farther than the rule's own geographic limits allow.

Frequently Asked Questions

What must a subpoena in Iowa state?

Rule 1.1701 requires every subpoena to state the issuing court, the action's title and docket number, and a command to attend and testify, produce documents or electronically stored information, or permit inspection of premises, along with the text of the rule's protection and response provisions.

Who can issue a subpoena in an Iowa case?

The clerk issues a subpoena, signed but blank, to a requesting party who completes it before service, and an attorney licensed to practice in Iowa may also issue and sign a subpoena directly as an officer of the court.

How far can a subpoena require a non-party witness to travel?

Rule 1.1701 requires the court to quash or modify a subpoena that requires a person who is not a party or a party's officer to travel more than 50 miles from where that person lives, works, or regularly transacts business, except that a person can be required to attend trial anywhere in the state.

What if I object to producing documents demanded in a subpoena?

You may serve a written objection before the earlier of the compliance date or 14 days after the subpoena is served, and once you object, the serving party must move the issuing court for an order compelling production before you are required to comply.

What happens if someone ignores a subpoena?

The issuing court may hold that person in contempt for failing without adequate excuse to obey a subpoena after being properly served and paid required fees, though a non-party is excused if the subpoena demanded attendance or production beyond the distance limits the rule allows.

Source & verification. Rule text and the Comment are reproduced verbatim from the Iowa Rules of Civil Procedure, adopted by the Iowa Supreme Court. Last verified July 15, 2026. · Official source

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