How to Domesticate an Out-of-State Subpoena in Maine

The Maine Uniform Interstate Depositions and Discovery Act took effect in 2019. Maine joined the adopting states by enacting the Uniform Law Commission’s model act at Title 14, Chapter 15 of the Maine Revised Statutes.

Maine adopted the model act by statute rather than by court rule, which is why the authority is a chapter of the Maine Revised Statutes and not a provision of the Maine Rules of Civil Procedure. The chapter has been amended twice since — in 2023 by c. 32, and again by c. 648, Pt. B, which added the health care attestation and the review provision that can stop issuance altogether.

What the model act removed from interstate discovery is the formal petition. Before adoption, obtaining discovery across state lines generally meant opening a separate proceeding in a local court and persuading a judge there to issue. Under Maine’s UIDDA a party submits the foreign subpoena to a clerk and the clerk issues, which lets a foreign subpoena be domesticated without a full civil action — no petition, no motion, no prior judicial order for routine issuance, and no requirement that a Maine practicing attorney appear for the purpose of issuance. That is not the same as saying nothing is docketed: CV-267 carries a docket-number field and calls for the Civil Summary Sheet CV-001, so a clerk may open an administrative entry. Court record-keeping is not a Maine civil action, and § 403(1) is explicit that the request does not constitute an appearance.

Maine domesticates out-of-state subpoenas by clerk issuance under 14 M.R.S. § 403, with a sworn attestation, no local counsel, Rule 45 service, and a health-care shield that can block issuance outright.

Maine domestication takes seven steps: issue the foreign subpoena, choose the Maine venue, complete the sworn attestation, submit the package to the clerk, receive the issued Maine subpoena, give the other parties their 14 days’ notice, then serve it under Rule 45 with the fee tendered.

1. Issue the subpoena in the trial state. It must come from a court of record of a foreign jurisdiction — § 402(2).
2. Choose the Maine venue: the District Court for the district, or the Superior Court for the county, where discovery will be conducted. Either is valid.
3. Complete the sworn attestation. The party, or someone who represents a party, completes and signs the court-provided affidavit stating whether the subpoena seeks material related to legally protected health care activity — CV-267 reads “I am a party or I represent a party,” and its Maine Bar number field is marked “if applicable.”
4. Submit the package the form itself requires: the completed foreign subpoena, payment of $10 ($5 for the subpoena and $5 shipping and handling), and the Civil Summary Sheet CV-001 — together with the signed CV-267 carrying the counsel and self-represented-party contact information.
5. The clerk promptly issues the Maine subpoena — unless the attestation triggers § 403(4), in which case the request goes to a judge.
6. Give prior notice to every party under Rule 5(b) — at least 14 days before the response date set in the subpoena, for a deposition as much as for records — Rule 45(b)(1).
7. Serve under Rule 45, tendering travel and one day’s attendance where attendance is commanded.

If the attestation indicates the subpoena seeks material tied to legally protected health care activity, the clerk may not issue it. The court must deny the request and quash any subpoena already issued, unless one of three exceptions applies.

What are the three exceptions where the court will still direct issuance?

The court directs the clerk to issue only where the foreign action is brought by the care recipient, arises from a contractual relationship with that individual, or is a custody dispute between parents — § 403(4)(A)–(C).

Maine’s shield provisions grew out of its reproductive and gender-affirming health care protections, and those are the categories the definitions in § 402(2-A) and (2-B) reach by cross-reference to 14 M.R.S. § 9002. Two practical consequences follow. First, the shield is not limited to cases that are obviously about health care: it turns on what the subpoena seeks, so a personal injury, disability, insurance or employment matter can land inside it. Second, the terms “legally protected health care activity” and “aiding and assisting legally protected health care activity” are not defined inside Chapter 15 — § 402(2-A) and (2-B) adopt the definitions from 14 M.R.S. § 9002, so that is where the scope question is actually answered.

When did Maine adopt the UIDDA?

Maine adopted the Uniform Interstate Depositions and Discovery Act by statute in 2019, through PL 2019, c. 109, codified at Title 14, Chapter 15 of the Maine Revised Statutes.

Maine’s authority is statutory rather than a rule of civil procedure, which is a common point of confusion. The chapter was amended in 2023 by c. 32 and again by c. 648, Pt. B, which added the health-care shield. Under § 408 the Act applies to requests for discovery in cases pending on its effective date.

Which Maine court issues the domesticated subpoena?

Either the District Court for the district or the Superior Court for the county in which discovery is to be conducted. Section 403(1) gives the filer the choice, so both routes are equally valid.

Maine has 16 counties, and the choice is between a District Court clerk and a Superior Court clerk covering the same Maine county. Where one clerk’s office is slower or has particular intake preferences, the other trial court located in that venue is available. Cumberland County, which includes Portland, and Penobscot County, which includes Bangor, are the venues out-of-state firms encounter most often, simply because that is where the institutional record custodians sit.

Identify the county from the witness’s address rather than from the address of a law firm or registered agent. A records custodian employed by a hospital or insurer may sit in a different Maine county from the corporate headquarters, and the subpoena issues where the discovery will actually be conducted.

Do I need Maine local counsel to domesticate a subpoena?

No. Section 403(1) states that a request for the issuance of a subpoena under the Act does not constitute an appearance in the courts of the State, so no Maine admission or pro hac vice motion is needed to obtain issuance.

Maine counsel becomes necessary at the motion stage. Under § 406, an application to enforce, quash or modify the subpoena, or for a protective order, is filed in the Maine court where discovery is being conducted and must comply with the Maine Rules of Civil Procedure.

Does Maine require an affidavit with a UIDDA request?

Yes. Section 403(1-A) requires every request to be accompanied by an affidavit stating whether the foreign subpoena seeks material related to legally protected health care activity. The court provides the form.

The attestation is signed under oath, and the statute requires the form to carry a warning that making a false statement on it may be punishable as the crime of false swearing under Maine law. That is why the attestation is completed and signed by counsel, who has the case knowledge the sworn statement rests on.

Maine’s courts publish the attestation on a numbered form — CV-267, currently Rev. 01/25 — which pairs the request for issuance with the sworn statement. The form is explicit about what travels with it: a completed foreign subpoena issued under the authority of the foreign jurisdiction, payment of $10 ($5 for the subpoena and $5 shipping and handling), and the Civil Summary Sheet CV-001. It also carries the health-care question as a True or False selection, and the oath may be taken before an attorney at law, a notary public, or a clerk. Posted county instructions have not all caught up with the current revision, so confirm the revision in use with the destination clerk.

What does the clerk have to do once the package arrives?

Under § 403(2) the clerk must, in accordance with that court’s procedure, promptly issue a subpoena for service on the person to whom the foreign subpoena is directed — unless § 403(4) requires the request to go to a judge.

Section 403(3) sets what the issued subpoena must contain: it must incorporate the terms used in the foreign subpoena, and it must contain or be accompanied by the names, addresses and telephone numbers of all counsel of record in the proceeding to which the subpoena relates and of any party not represented by counsel. A package missing a telephone number or an unrepresented party’s address is a routine reason for a clerk to bounce it.

What kinds of subpoenas can be domesticated in Maine?

Section 402(5) covers three commands: attend and give testimony at a deposition; produce and permit inspection and copying of books, documents, records, electronically stored information or tangible things; and permit inspection of premises under the person’s control.

Inspection of premises is inside Maine’s definition, so it travels through the same clerk route as documents and depositions. Document-only subpoenas — those commanding production of discoverable materials with no appearance — are the most common use of the chapter, and medical records are the most common category within that. Which is precisely why the health care review provision matters more in Maine than almost anywhere else.

Can the UIDDA compel a Maine witness to testify at trial in another state?

No. The Act reaches discovery subpoenas only. A trial-attendance subpoena from another state’s court cannot be domesticated under 14 M.R.S. §§ 401–408.

The practical alternative is a trial deposition taken in Maine through this same domestication process, or the witness’s voluntary appearance.

How is a domesticated Maine subpoena served?

Section 404 requires that a subpoena issued by a clerk under § 403 be served in compliance with Maine Rule of Civil Procedure 45. Section 405 separately applies the Maine Rules and 16 M.R.S. §§ 101, 102 and 251 to the discovery itself. Two authorities work together on the money. Rule 45(b)(1) makes the tender part of service: service on a person whose attendance is commanded is made by delivering a copy and “tendering to that person the fees for one day’s attendance and the mileage allowed by law.” Section 253 of Title 16 comes at it from the witness’s side — no person is obliged to attend, or to have a deposition taken, unless travel and one day’s attendance are first paid or tendered. Cite both: the rule is why the server carries the money, and the statute is why a witness who was never tendered owes nothing.

How much advance notice must the other parties get?

At least 14 days, and the requirement is broader than most guides state. Rule 45(b)(1) provides that prior notice of any commanded production of documents and things, inspection of premises, “or the appearance of a witness in discovery or pretrial proceedings” must be served on each party in the manner prescribed by Rule 5(b) at least 14 days before the response date set in the subpoena. A party then has 7 days to object and to arrange for the court to determine the objection. Note what that sweeps in: the 14-day notice is not limited to records subpoenas. A deposition subpoena is a subpoena commanding the appearance of a witness in discovery, so the same advance notice runs before it is served.

Two practical consequences. First, the 14 days sit ahead of service, not ahead of the response date alone, so a domesticated Maine deposition needs the notice clock built into the calendar alongside the clerk’s issuance time — and where the attestation routes the request to a judge under § 403(4), ahead of that too. Second, objections to a discovery or pretrial subpoena run under Rule 26(g) by way of Rule 45(e), not by written motion. Trial and hearing subpoenas are different: those are served on each party under Rule 5(b) with no 14-day period attached.

It is the Maine-issued subpoena that gets served, not the original subpoena from the trial state — that one travels with the package to the clerk and is incorporated by reference. Maine state rules govern the manner of service and what constitutes completed service. Rule 45 sets no general requirement that proof of service be filed for a discovery subpoena, so returning notarised proof to the requesting party for the originating court’s file is Countrywide’s procedure rather than a Maine rule — and it is the evidentiary record if compliance later has to be enforced.

Where can a Maine deposition be compelled to take place?

Rule 45(d)(3)(A)(ii) requires the court to quash or modify a subpoena that makes a Maine resident non-party travel outside the county where they reside, are employed, or transact business in person, or more than 100 miles one way — whichever is greater, unless the court orders otherwise.

A separate limb of the same rule covers non-residents: a non-resident non-party cannot be required to attend outside the county where served, or farther than 100 miles from the place of service, unless the court fixes another convenient place. The rule also requires quashing where the subpoena fails to allow reasonable time for compliance, demands privileged or protected matter, or subjects a person to undue burden. Choose the compliance location by the witness’s county first, and treat 100 miles as the outer alternative rather than the default.

What witness fee must be tendered in Maine?

Maine’s statutory witness fees are $10.00 for each day’s attendance plus 22¢ a mile for each mile’s travel going and returning home, under 16 M.R.S. § 251, unless the court otherwise orders. The party calling the witness pays the witness.

Section 253 sets the timing and it is strict: no person is obliged to attend as a witness in a civil action, or to have a deposition taken, unless legal fees for travel to and from the place and for one day’s attendance are first paid or tendered. Fees for each subsequent day must be paid at the close of the preceding day if the witness requests it. Tender first, not after.

What happens if the witness does not comply?

Enforcement runs through the Maine court, not the originating court. Under § 406, an application to enforce, quash or modify the subpoena is filed in the District or Superior Court where discovery is or will be conducted.

Where a witness refuses to comply with a properly domesticated Maine subpoena, Rule 45(f) supplies the consequence directly: failure by any person without adequate excuse to obey a subpoena served on that person may be deemed a contempt of the court in which the action is pending, or of the county in which the deposition is taken, with punishment under Rule 66 and 16 M.R.S. § 102 — one of the sections § 405 expressly carries into UIDDA discovery. The same rule names an adequate excuse: there is adequate cause for failing to obey where the subpoena purports to require a non-party to attend or produce at a place outside the limits of Rule 45(c)(3)(A)(ii). Getting the location wrong does not just risk a motion to quash; it hands the witness a defence to contempt. An order from the trial state has no direct force here, because the originating subpoena is not the instrument being enforced. The Maine subpoena is.

Five assumptions cause most problems: that Maine has not adopted the Act, that its authority sits in the court rules, that the attestation is clerical, that health-care requests merely take longer, and that 100 miles is the default reach.

Countrywide Process supplies the correct current Maine forms, delivers the package to the right clerk for issuance, advances all fees, serves the issued subpoena through a professional Maine process server, and returns notarised proof of service.

Countrywide Process does not prepare, draft or complete legal documents. That division matters more in Maine than almost anywhere else, because the attestation required by § 403(1-A) is sworn under oath and carries a false-swearing warning on its face. The sworn statement rests on the signer’s knowledge of what the subpoena seeks. CV-267 permits a party or a party’s representative to sign and marks the Maine Bar number field “if applicable,” so Maine does not require the affiant to be an attorney — but in out-of-state litigation counsel ordinarily signs, and whoever signs carries the sworn representations and the perjury exposure the form spells out. Countrywide supplies the correct current form, files the package with the right clerk, tracks it through any § 403(4) judicial review, advances the court fee and the statutory witness tender, arranges Rule 45 service, and returns the proof.

The operational value is venue selection across Maine’s 16 counties and two trial courts, getting the tender right before service rather than after, and knowing which packages are likely to be routed to a judge.

Every statement marked FACT is verified against the Maine Revised Statutes or the Maine Rules of Civil Procedure. Statements marked INFERENCE are practical guidance that follows from those sources but is not stated in any rule.

All citations verified August 2026 against primary sources.

• 14 M.R.S. c. 15, §§ 401–408 — https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14ch15.pdf
• 14 M.R.S. § 402 (definitions, incl. §§ 2-A and 2-B) — https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec402.html
• PL 2019, c. 109 — An Act To Adopt the Uniform Interstate Depositions and Discovery Act — https://legislature.maine.gov/legis/bills/bills_129th/chapters/PUBLIC109.asp
• 16 M.R.S. § 251 (fees of witnesses) — https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/16/title16sec251.html
• 16 M.R.S. § 253 (witness not obligated unless fees paid or tendered) — https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/16/title16sec253.html
• Maine Rule of Civil Procedure 45 — https://www.courts.maine.gov/rules/text/MRCivPPlus/RULE%2045r.pdf
  • Maine Judicial Branch form CV-267 (Rev. 01/25), Affidavit and Request for Issuance of a Subpoena Under the UIDDA — https://mjbportal.courts.maine.gov/CourtForms/FormsLists/DownloadForm?strFormNumber=CV-267