{"id":632,"date":"2018-01-29T08:40:15","date_gmt":"2018-01-29T00:40:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/trainingpips.com\/?page_id=632"},"modified":"2018-12-20T13:11:44","modified_gmt":"2018-12-20T21:11:44","slug":"ps-101-chapter-6-article-2-service-of-the-subpoena","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/app.trainingpips.com\/index.php\/ps-101-a-course-outline\/ps-101-chapter-6-chapter-outline-service-of-other-documents-2\/ps-101-chapter-6-article-2-service-of-the-subpoena\/","title":{"rendered":"PS 101 – Chapter 6 – Article 2 – Service of the Subpoena"},"content":{"rendered":"

The word “subpoena” is Latin for “under penalty” which is an apt description of its purpose. A subpoena is used to require a person to be at a specified place at a specified time for a specified purpose. Failure to comply with the commands contained in the subpoena may subject the person being subpoenaed to a criminal charge of contempt of court. The penalty involved with such a finding may well involve arrest, jail, and a monetary penalty.<\/span><\/p>\n

RCW 5.56.060 Result of failure to attend.
\nIf any person duly served with a subpoena and obliged to attend as a witness, shall fail to do so, without any reasonable excuse, he shall be liable to the aggrieved party for all damages occasioned by such failure, to be recovered in a civil action.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

RCW 5.56.061 Failure to attend considered contempt of court.
\nA failure to attend as required by the subpoena, shall also be considered a contempt of court as provided in chapter 7.21 RCW.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

RCW 5.56.070 Attachment of witness.
\nThe court, judge, or other officer, in such case, may issue an attachment to bring such witness before them to answer for contempt, and also testify as witness in the cause in which he or she was subpoenaed.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Service is primarily controlled by:<\/span><\/p>\n

CR-45(c)
\n<\/em>Service. A subpoena may be served by any suitable person over 18 years of age, by exhibiting and reading it to the witness, or by giving him a copy thereof, or by leaving such copy at the place of his abode. When service is made by any other person than an officer authorized to serve process, proof of service shall be made by affidavit.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

The phrase “A subpoena may be served by any suitable person over 18 years of age”<\/em> is interesting in that no definition of “suitable person” is provided. That said, you should review the lesson entitled Who May Serve Legal Process in the State of Washington<\/a> found elsewhere in this course. Briefly the basic requirements can be outlined as follows:<\/span><\/p>\n