This procedure is one of the topics covered in How Washington Small Claims Courts Work. If you have already filed your Notice of Small Claim and a witness you need at the hearing has indicated they won’t appear voluntarily, this article walks through when subpoenas are available in the small claims department, where the authority comes from, and how to issue and serve one.
When a subpoena is the right tool
Washington’s small claims department was designed to be informal. RCW 12.40.080 expressly says it “shall not be necessary to summon witnesses”, the plaintiff and defendant simply bring whoever they want the judge to hear from. Most small claims hearings proceed this way: each side shows up with the people who will testify, and no formal process is involved.
A subpoena becomes useful in one of three situations. The witness is unwilling to attend voluntarily, like a former employer, a hostile neighbor, or a contractor who walked off the job. The witness is willing but their employer won’t release them without legal process. Or the evidence is a document that lives somewhere else, like a bank record or a business file, and a subpoena duces tecum is needed to compel its production.
Outside those situations, a subpoena adds friction without adding value. The witness who would come anyway doesn’t need to be served, and the witness fee still has to be paid regardless of whether the testimony helps. If the witness will testify voluntarily, the cleanest path is to ask them, confirm the date, and skip the subpoena process entirely.
Where the subpoena authority comes from
RCW 12.40, the small claims chapter, does not directly create a subpoena power. The authority comes through CRLJ 81, which applies the Civil Rules for Courts of Limited Jurisdiction to small claims actions except where they conflict with the small claims chapter. That makes CRLJ 45, the subpoena rule for district court, the operative rule.
Under CRLJ 45, the district court clerk may issue a subpoena requiring the named person to attend and give testimony at a specified time and place. The same rule authorizes a subpoena duces tecum, which commands the witness to bring designated books, documents, or tangible things to the hearing.
Two background statutes also matter here. RCW 12.40.080 confirms that witnesses are not required to be summoned but may be brought, framing the subpoena as an exception rather than the default. RCW 12.40.090 reinforces the informality of the proceeding more broadly: the sole object of the hearing is “dispensing speedy and quick justice between the litigants.”
Issuing the subpoena: the procedural steps
The clerk of the district court in the county where the small claims case is filed issues the subpoena. The procedure is the same as for any other civil subpoena in district court, scaled down for a self-represented party.
Confirm the hearing date and location
You need the case number, the courthouse address, the hearing date, and the hearing time before requesting the subpoena. These are on the Notice of Small Claim and on the hearing notice the clerk sent after filing.
Request a blank subpoena from the clerk
The district court clerk’s office issues blank subpoena forms on request. Some counties also publish a fillable subpoena form on the court’s website. The form is captioned with the case name and number and identifies the date, time, and place the witness must appear.
Fill in the witness information
List the witness’s full legal name and the address where service will happen. For a subpoena duces tecum, describe the documents or items the witness must bring with reasonable specificity, “all invoices issued by ABC Roofing to Jane Doe between March 1, 2025 and June 30, 2025” rather than “all business records.”
Have the clerk sign and seal the subpoena
Return the completed form to the clerk’s office. Under CRLJ 45(a), a subpoena is issued by the clerk under the seal of the court. An unsealed subpoena is not enforceable against a non-party witness.
Arrange service and prepare the fee
Service has to happen before the hearing with enough time for the witness to comply, and the witness fee plus one day’s mileage has to be tendered at the time of service for the subpoena to be valid against a non-party. The next two sections cover how the service and the fee work in practice.
The clerk does not screen the merits of the subpoena request. The clerk’s role is administrative: confirming the case exists, sealing the form, and returning it for service. A witness who believes the subpoena is improper can move to quash it under CRLJ 45(c).
Witness fees and mileage you must pay
Washington requires the requesting party to pay the witness a statutory fee. The amount is set by RCW 2.40.010, which provides that witnesses in courts other than courts of record, including district court, which houses small claims, receive for each day’s attendance the same compensation per day and per mile as jurors in district court.
The district court juror rate is fixed by RCW 2.36.150. As of 2026, that rate is $10 per day for attendance plus mileage at the rate the county legislative authority has set, which most often tracks the standard state mileage rate.
The fee is paid in cash or by check made out to the witness, not to the court. If the witness attends for more than one day, additional days’ fees are paid as the testimony continues. A subpoena duces tecum that requires document production but not personal attendance still requires the basic statutory fee.
A plaintiff with a fee waiver in the underlying small claims case does not automatically have witness fees waived. The waiver applies to court fees, not to fees the law requires the party to pay directly to a witness.
Serving the subpoena on the witness
Under CRLJ 45(b), service is by personal delivery, handing the subpoena, with the fee, to the named witness. Service may be made by any person who is at least 18 years old and not a party to the case. A sheriff, marshal, registered process server, or willing adult friend all qualify.
How much advance notice the witness needs is a judgment call. CRLJ 45 itself sets no minimum number of days, but the practical floor is the amount of time a reasonable person needs to rearrange their schedule. Five business days is a common target; for a subpoena duces tecum requiring document gathering, more lead time is appropriate. A subpoena served the day before the hearing risks being quashed for unreasonable burden.
The person who serves the subpoena fills out an affidavit of service or declaration of service describing who they served, when, where, and how, including the fee tendered. Many counties accept a simple declaration under penalty of perjury under RCW 9A.72.085. The proof of service is filed with the court before the hearing so the judge has a record if the witness fails to appear.
When the witness ignores the subpoena
A properly issued, properly served, and properly compensated subpoena is enforceable. CRLJ 45(e) makes failure to obey “without adequate excuse” punishable as a contempt of the court that issued the subpoena.
The remedy is not automatic. The judge will not chase down a no-show witness in the middle of a small claims hearing, small claims judges have heavy dockets and limited tools for that. The party who wants the witness’s testimony typically asks for a continuance and a show-cause order requiring the witness to appear and explain the non-attendance. If the court issues a contempt order, sanctions can include fines and, in extreme situations, an arrest warrant for the witness.
Practically, a no-show witness often forces a strategic choice rather than a legal one: pursue contempt and delay the case, or proceed without the witness and rely on the other evidence available. The judge has wide discretion to “informally consult witnesses or otherwise investigate the controversy” under RCW 12.40.090, which sometimes makes presenting the case without the absent witness more workable than it would be in regular civil court.
Frequently asked questions
Can a defendant in a Washington small claims case issue a subpoena?
Yes. CRLJ 45 applies to any party in the case, and small claims defendants have the same access to the clerk’s subpoena power as plaintiffs. The same fee, service, and notice rules apply. A defendant planning to subpoena a witness can coordinate with the clerk early, since the clerk’s office may have local procedures for self-represented parties.
What happens if the witness lives outside Washington?
A Washington court subpoena reaches witnesses inside Washington. Service on an out-of-state witness requires the procedures in the Uniform Interstate Depositions and Discovery Act adopted in the witness’s home state, which most states have enacted. The process is more involved than a routine small claims subpoena and typically requires opening a related proceeding in the witness’s state to enforce the Washington subpoena.
Does a subpoena duces tecum for bank or medical records require anything different?
Records that include sensitive personal information are subject to additional state and federal rules. Bank records are governed by the Right to Financial Privacy Act and state privacy statutes; medical records are governed by HIPAA and Washington’s Uniform Health Care Information Act. A subpoena duces tecum for those records often requires advance notice to the person whose records are being sought, and the records custodian may object based on the applicable privacy law. The clerk does not screen for these issues at issuance.
Can a police officer or other government employee be subpoenaed?
Yes, with caveats. Public employees can be subpoenaed in the same way as any other witness, and the same fee and service rules apply. Many agencies have policies and statutes governing how an officer responds to a subpoena, including reimbursement and overtime rules. Service is typically made on the agency’s records custodian or designated agent rather than on the individual officer at home.
What if a witness comes to court but refuses to answer questions?
A witness who appears in response to a subpoena must give testimony unless a recognized privilege applies, including attorney-client, spousal, and Fifth Amendment privileges. A witness asserting a privilege must say so on the record. If the judge finds the privilege does not apply and the witness still refuses to answer, the refusal can be punished as contempt under CRLJ 45(e), and the judge may grant a continuance to allow the issue to be briefed.
Sources
- CRLJ 45, Subpoena rule for courts of limited jurisdiction
- CRLJ 81, Applicability of the Civil Rules for Courts of Limited Jurisdiction
- Civil Rules for Courts of Limited Jurisdiction (CRLJ index)
- RCW 12.40.080, Small claims hearing rules
- RCW 12.40.090, Small claims informal pleadings
- RCW 2.40.010, Witness fees and mileage