Current through Reg. 49, No. 38; September 20, 2024
(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 appearance 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 appearance 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 appearance of witnesses who are not peace officers;
(C) a party seeks to compel the appearance 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 appearance 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.
