Trucking litigation often crosses state lines. A truck driver may live in another state, a motor carrier may be headquartered elsewhere, and corporate witnesses, maintenance personnel, or records custodians may be located far from where the lawsuit is pending. A subpoena issued by a court in the state where the case is filed does not, on its own, carry legal force in another state. To compel testimony or documents from a witness who is in Georgia in connection with a case pending elsewhere, the out-of-state subpoena must be domesticated, meaning it must be turned into a Georgia subpoena.
The governing law: the Uniform Interstate Depositions and Discovery Act
Georgia has adopted the Uniform Interstate Depositions and Discovery Act, commonly abbreviated UIDDA. Georgia enacted the Act in 2012, and it is codified at O.C.G.A. 24-13-110 through O.C.G.A. 24-13-116. The Act establishes a streamlined, clerk based procedure for converting a subpoena issued in another state into one that a Georgia witness must obey. It applies to civil discovery and does not apply to criminal proceedings.
Before the Act, obtaining discovery from an out-of-state witness was cumbersome, often requiring a separate ancillary lawsuit and the involvement of a local judge. The Act replaced that process with an administrative one handled by the clerk of court.
The basic process under the Act
The process under the Act centers on the clerk of the superior court.
First, a party submits the foreign subpoena, meaning the subpoena issued by the court in the state where the case is pending, to the clerk of the superior court in the Georgia county where the witness resides, is employed, or regularly transacts business, or where the discovery is to occur. The statute describes submitting the subpoena to the clerk of superior court of the county in which discovery is sought.
Second, when the clerk receives the foreign subpoena, the clerk promptly issues a Georgia subpoena for service on the witness. The Georgia subpoena issued by the clerk must incorporate the terms of the foreign subpoena and must contain or be accompanied by the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of all counsel of record and of any party not represented by counsel. In effect, the Georgia subpoena mirrors the out-of-state subpoena but carries the authority of the Georgia court.
Third, the Georgia subpoena is served on the witness in accordance with Georgia’s rules for service of subpoenas. Once served, the witness is subject to the subpoena as though it had originated in a Georgia case.
A significant advantage of this procedure is its simplicity. Under the Act, there is no need to file a separate lawsuit or to appear before a Georgia judge in order to obtain issuance of the subpoena. The clerk handles issuance as an administrative matter.
Reciprocity requirement
The Act includes an important condition. The clerk based procedure applies to a subpoena to be issued in Georgia only if the foreign jurisdiction that issued the original subpoena has itself adopted a version of the Uniform Interstate Depositions and Discovery Act. The Act has been adopted broadly across the states, but the reciprocity requirement means the procedure depends on the originating state having a comparable law.
What the subpoena can require
A subpoena domesticated through this process can be used for the discovery tools that subpoenas ordinarily support. It can compel a witness to appear for a deposition. It can compel the production of documents and other tangible items, such as driver qualification files, hours of service records, maintenance and inspection records, electronic logging device data, and similar trucking related materials. It can also compel the inspection of premises or things. The scope of what may be sought is governed by the discovery rules and limits that apply, and the production occurs in Georgia where the witness or the materials are located.
Georgia courts retain control and protect witnesses
Although the issuance step is administrative, Georgia courts retain authority over the discovery once it is underway. The Act preserves the rights of the person served. A Georgia witness who receives a domesticated subpoena may challenge or object to it. The witness may move to quash or modify the subpoena, or may seek a protective order. Those motions are decided by the Georgia court in the county where the subpoena issued, applying Georgia law.
This means that disputes about the scope of the subpoena, claims of privilege, assertions that compliance would be unduly burdensome, and similar objections are resolved in Georgia, by a Georgia court, even though the underlying lawsuit is pending in another state. The application of Georgia procedural protections to a Georgia witness is a deliberate feature of the Act, ensuring that local witnesses are not subjected to obligations that exceed what Georgia law would permit.
The reverse situation
The Act also addresses the mirror image scenario. When a case is pending in Georgia and a key witness, such as an out-of-state truck driver or a motor carrier’s corporate representative, is located in another state, the Georgia party obtains a Georgia subpoena and then uses the other state’s version of the Act to domesticate it there. Because the Act has been widely adopted, the same clerk based mechanism is generally available in the witness’s home state, subject to that state’s procedures.
Summary
Out-of-state subpoenas are enforced in Georgia trucking cases through the Uniform Interstate Depositions and Discovery Act, codified at O.C.G.A. 24-13-110 through 24-13-116. A party submits the foreign subpoena to the clerk of the superior court in the Georgia county connected to the witness or the discovery, the clerk promptly issues a corresponding Georgia subpoena incorporating the foreign subpoena’s terms, and that Georgia subpoena is then served and enforced like any other. The procedure is administrative and does not require a separate lawsuit, it depends on the originating state having adopted a comparable act, and it preserves the served person’s right to seek to quash, modify, or limit the subpoena before a Georgia court.
Disclaimer
This article is provided strictly for general educational and informational purposes. It is intended to explain how Georgia law works as a matter of public legal education, and it does not constitute legal advice, a legal opinion, or a recommendation about any particular course of action. Reading this article, or contacting the website on which it appears, does not create an attorney-client relationship between the reader and any law firm, attorney, or author.
The law changes over time. Statutes, regulations, court rules, and judicial decisions discussed here may have been amended, repealed, superseded, or reinterpreted after the date of publication, and citations to specific code sections or cases reflect the law only as it was understood when this article was written. The application of any legal principle also depends heavily on the specific facts and circumstances of an individual matter, and outcomes vary from case to case.
For these reasons, no one should rely on this article as a substitute for advice from a licensed Georgia attorney who can review the particular facts involved. The author and publisher make no warranty, express or implied, regarding the accuracy, completeness, timeliness, or applicability of the information provided, and disclaim any liability for any action taken or not taken based on this content.