§ 25-1228.Trial subpoena; witness fee; return; cost.

Section 25-1228 handles the money and paperwork side of trial subpoenas. Except when the subpoena is issued at the request of a state agency or under section 25-2304, the person serving a trial subpoena must serve the witness fee for one day’s attendance along with the subpoena itself. That upfront fee gives the witness something in hand at the moment of service rather than a promise of later payment.

The section then requires documentation. Whoever serves the subpoena has to make a return of service stating the name of the person served, the date and method of service, and, where it applies, that the required witness fee accompanied the subpoena. That return has to be made by affidavit unless a sheriff or constable made the service, and if service happened by certified mail, the signed delivery receipt has to be attached to the return.

Cost allocation gets its own rule: the cost of serving a subpoena counts as a taxable court cost, and when someone other than a sheriff or constable serves it, the taxable amount is whichever is lower — the actual cost incurred or the statutory sheriff’s fee set in section 33-117. Finally, the party who requested the trial subpoena, except as provided in section 25-2304, has to pay the witness the fees and mileage due under section 33-139, and any amount not paid before the witness testifies has to be paid within a reasonable time afterward.