SECTION 159.101. Subpoenas Generally

(a) Scope.

(1) A subpoena may command a person to give testimony for an ALR hearing and/or produce designated documents or tangible things in the actual possession of that person.

(2) A subpoena must be issued on the form provided at www.soah.texas.gov.

(3) The party that causes a subpoena to be issued must take reasonable steps to avoid imposing undue burden or expense on the person served.

(4) A party or attorney that violates the requirements of this subchapter will be subject to sanctions as determined by the judge, including, but not limited to, the loss of authority to issue subpoenas for ALR hearings.

(5) If a party that requests or issues a subpoena fails to timely appear at the hearing, any subpoenaed witnesses will be released from the subpoena and the subpoena will have no continuing effect.

(b) Attorney-issued subpoenas. An attorney who is authorized to practice law in the State of Texas may issue up to two subpoenas for witnesses to appear at a hearing. One subpoena may be issued to compel the presence of the peace officer who was primarily responsible for the defendant’s stop or initial detention and the other may be issued to compel the presence of the peace officer who was primarily responsible for finding probable cause to arrest the defendant. If the same officer was primarily responsible for both the defendant’s stop and arrest, the attorney may issue only one subpoena.

(c) Subpoena request filed with judge.

(1) Not later than ten days prior to the hearing, a party may file a subpoena request with SOAH that demonstrates good cause to compel a witness’s appearance in person or by telephone or video conference, when:

(A) a party intends to call more than two peace officers to testify as witnesses;

(B) a party seeks to compel the presence of witnesses who are not peace officers;

(C) a party seeks to compel the presence of the breath test operator or technical supervisor and, by affidavit based on personal knowledge, has established a genuine issue concerning the validity of the breath test that requires the appearance of the witness to resolve; or

(D) a defendant, who is not represented by an attorney, seeks to compel the presence of witnesses.

(2) A request for subpoena that is not granted prior to the hearing may be re-urged at the hearing. If the judge grants the request for a subpoena at the hearing, the hearing shall reconvene at a later date for the appearance of the witness.

(d) Judge’s discretion. The decision to issue a subpoena, as described in subsection (c) of this section, shall be in the sound discretion of the judge assigned to the case. The judge shall refuse to issue a subpoena if:

(1) the testimony or documentary evidence is immaterial, irrelevant, or would be unduly repetitious; or

(2) good cause has not been demonstrated.

Source Note: The provisions of this §159.101 adopted to be effective January 20, 2009, 34 TexReg 330; amended to be effective May 30, 2010, 35 TexReg 4145; amended to be effective January 1, 2017, 41 TexReg 9459