Subpoenas and Lawsuits

For questions and other assistance, please contact the Public Records Coordinator.

Service of Subpoenas

We are unable to respond to subpoenas where the CSU is a party to the proceeding. Instructions for completing service of subpoenas where the CSU is a party to the proceeding are available from the CSU Office of General Counsel.

For University Records

Subpoenas for University records or for the appearance of a University employee as a witness must be personally served and accompanied by any requisite fees via check made out to "CSUS."

We are unable to respond to subpoenas sent by fax, mail, or email.It is advisable to contact the Public Records Coordinator in advance of arrival for service to ensure availability and minimize delays.

Subpoenas for University records should be addressed to:

• "Custodian of Records for California State University, Sacramento"

Subpoenas for University records should be served in person to the following campus location:

• Department Name: Auditing and Consulting Services
• Building Name: Sacramento Hall Room Number: Suite 259F
• Physical Address: 6000 J Street, Sacramento, California 95819

Process servers attempting to serve a subpoena for University records elsewhere on campus will be sent to this office.

For records requests, please email the records request and the applicable signed authorization to prarequest@csus.edu. Please do not include any social security numbers in this transmission.

Records releases for appropriately served subpoenas and records requests will be done electronically, by either secured email or secured file share upload.

For Appearance of a University Employee

As a general rule, subpoenas addressed to a particular person requesting personal appearance to testify as a witness can only be accepted by that person. However, in the following circumstances, service of an appearance subpoena may be achieved by delivering two copies of the subpoena to Auditing and Consulting Services following the processes set forth above:

• When a University peace officer is being subpoenaed to testify about an event or transaction that he or she witnessed or investigated in his or her role as a peace officer.
• When a University employee is being subpoenaed to testify about expertise gained during the course of his or her duties.

University employees who are being subpoenaed to testify about something they perceived while at work or personal matters must be individually served.

Service of Lawsuits

Against the University

A lawsuit (i.e., a summons and complaint) that names the California State University, the CSU Board of Trustees, and/or an individual CSU campus as a defendant 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.

California State University, Sacramento employees do not have the authority to accept service of lawsuits against the University. Employees who are approached by a process server attempting to serve a lawsuit upon the University will not accept service and will instead direct the process server to the Office of General Counsel.

Against an Individually Named Defendant

Individually named defendants in a lawsuit may be served at their work location on campus. If an individually named defendant is away from his or her work location when service is attempted, the process server will be advised to return at another time.