A person who, without reasonable excuse, fails to obey a subpoena may be adjudged in contempt of the court which issued the subpoena. The court may also order a recalcitrant witness to be attached and brought to court forthwith or on a designated day.
Art. 1357.Failure to Comply With Subpoena
Book II. Ordinary Proceedings · Title III. Production of Evidence · Chapter 1. Subpoenas · Amendment history unavailable · Last verified July 30, 2026
In one sentenceArticle 1357 exposes a witness who disobeys a subpoena without reasonable excuse to a contempt finding by the issuing court, which may also order that witness attached and brought to court.
Full Text of Art. 1357
Plain-English Summary
A subpoena carries little force if ignoring it has no consequence, and Article 1357 supplies that consequence. A person who fails to obey a subpoena, without a reasonable excuse, can be adjudged in contempt of the court that issued it — a real risk for a witness who decides not to show up, as opposed to one who has a real reason, such as illness or an emergency, for missing the appearance.
Beyond contempt, the court has a more direct tool available: it can order the recalcitrant witness attached, meaning taken into custody, and brought before the court, either right away or on a day the court sets. This gives a party who called a witness a real path to getting that witness in front of the court even after a subpoena alone has failed to do the job.
Article 1357 also backs up the adverse-party rule in Article 1354, Paragraph G: when a subpoenaed adverse party fails to comply with a subpoena duces tecum, that party faces both the fact-confession consequence spelled out there and the contempt exposure this article describes.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens if I ignore a subpoena in Louisiana?
Without a reasonable excuse, you can be adjudged in contempt of the court that issued the subpoena, and the court can order you attached and brought before it.
What counts as a reasonable excuse for not complying with a subpoena?
Article 1357 doesn't define the term, leaving the court to weigh the circumstances of the individual case, but genuine obstacles like illness or an emergency generally fare better than a simple decision not to appear.
Can a court have a non-compliant witness arrested?
Yes. The court may order the witness attached, meaning taken into custody, and brought to court either immediately or on a day the court designates.
Source & verification. Article text is reproduced verbatim from
the Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure (legis.la.gov). Enacted by the Louisiana Legislature.
Last verified July 30, 2026.
· Official source
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