California State University, San Bernardino is occasionally served with subpoenas in civil lawsuits, criminal cases, and other kinds of formal proceedings. A subpoena is a time-sensitive legal request for information and is equivalent to a direct order from a court. Do not accept the subpoena for Records or Appearance and Records relating to an employee (faculty or staff) or student. Responses to questions about students, faculty or staff should not be provided either. Please refer the servers to the Office of Risk Management located in the Environmental Health & Safety Building or to the appropriate Auxiliary Human Resources Department if you are part of an Auxiliary.
Subpoena’s must be served in-person and accompanied by a $15 witness fee which covers labor, administrative costs, and postage.
For additional information, please refer to the campus’ Procedures for Handling Law Enforcement Inquiries and Subpoenas policy.
This campus is unable to accept a Summons and Complaint that names the California State University, the CSU Board of Trustees, and/or an individual CSU campus as a defendant. These must be served on the California State University’s Office of General Counsel. Instructions for completing such service are available from the CSU Office of General Counsel.
Subpoena Types & Guidelines
An ‘appearance” subpoena requires the personal attendance of a witness. In most instances, a subpoena must be personally served on the person who is required to appear in court.
The individual named in the subpoena is the only person that may accept personal service on his/her behalf. If the individual named in the subpoena is away from his/her work location when service is attempted, the process server should be advised as to a better time to return. The process server should never be supplied with an employee’s home address or other personal information.
A ‘records only” subpoena requires the production of documents. A subpoena for CSU business records must be served on a University Records Custodian. Only these individuals/positions are authorized to accept, respond to or release University records or information. Process servers attempting to serve a subpoena or other orders of a court should be directed to the Office of Risk Management riskmanagement@csusb.edu or 909-537-3937.
An ‘appearance and records only’ subpoena requires the personal attendance of a witness and the production of documents. A subpoena for CSU business records must be served on a University Records Custodian. Only these individuals/positions are authorized to accept, respond to or release University records or information. Process servers attempting to serve a subpoena or other orders of a court should be directed to the Office of Risk Management riskmanagement@csusb.edu or 909-537-3937.
Process to Accept Legal Documents
Prior to informing the process server where to go, please check that the document is intended for, at a minimum; (1) the University (CSU, CSUSB, Trustee, etc.) or; (2) the President of the University. If the document is not intended or directed to either, then inform the process server that no representative at the University can accept the document and that the server will have to locate and deliver the document to the individual named.
If in doubt, please direct the process server to the Office of Risk Management for further assistance. The Office of Risk Management coordinates with other university records custodians to gather information.
Questions about service of process or subpoenas should be directed to the Office of Risk Management at riskmanagement@csusb.edu or 909-537-3937.