Subpeona serving time limits

**xocjp** · 02-03-2006, 08:49 AM

Hi,
I live in Wisconsin and would like to know what the law is when someone is serving me a subpeona to appear at a court hearing. They have served me on 3 different occassions: 36 hours prior to court date, 6 days prior to court date and day before court date. On all of them it says they were served 21 days prior to the court date. Don't they have to serve these things in advance like it says?

My problem with this is my job is over the road and this does not give me enough notice to even let my job know. They are going to get me fired. I have to miss the WHOLE week of work because my crew leaves for a week at a time.
Thanks,
cj

**aaron** · 02-03-2006, 11:18 AM

Quoting xocjp

They have served me on 3 different occassions: 36 hours prior to court date, 6 days prior to court date and day before court date. On all of them it says they were served 21 days prior to the court date.

What does that mean? The subpoena says it has been served, even though it hasn't been served?

**xocjp** · 02-03-2006, 02:00 PM

Sorry for not stating it correctly...what I need to know is, do they have to serve these papers a certain time prior to the court date? Like don't they have to serve me a week or two before the actual court date? They keep serving me right before the court dates and it doesn't give me enough time to make arrangements for time off at work. I'm only a witness and this doesn't even have anything to do with me to begin with and it sure is costing me a lot in lost wages because they serve me at the last minute like this.
Thanks!

**aaron** · 02-03-2006, 02:30 PM

This is the only statute I could find describing timing of service; there may be other statutes or court rules which apply to other types of subpoena.

Quoting Wisconsin Statutes, Section 805.07(2)(b)

(b) Notice of a third-party subpoena issued for discovery purposes shall be provided to all parties at least 10 days before the scheduled deposition in order to preserve their right to object. If a third-party subpoena requests the production of books, papers, documents or tangible things that are within the scope of discovery under s. 804.01 (2) (a), those objects shall not be provided before the time and date specified in the subpoena. The provisions under this paragraph apply unless all of the parties otherwise agree.