Brief ⁽¹⁾

SB 447 amends the Code of Civil Procedure dealing with the issuance of subpoenas for business records to require that the ten-day notice given by district court clerks prior to the issuance of the subpoena be given by the party requesting the subpoena. The bill deletes a requirement that the clerk of the district court, upon receipt of the business records, notify the party causing the subpoena to be issued.

The House Committee amended the bill by deleting the Senate amendment that included staff time in the cost of copying records.

Background

The bill was requested by the Kansas Association of District Court Clerks and administrators. A representative said current law requires unnecessary work for district court clerks. If a party objects to the production of certain documents, that party can object after the subpoena is issued without causing the clerks the work of issuing a notice. In many cases in which there is no objection to the production of the documents, the step of sending notice prior to issuing the subpoena is unnecessary. As to notifying the party who requested the records and upon receipting of the records, the party issuing the subpoena knows the time within which the records are required to be produced, and they check with the clerks by phone to see if the records have been received. The affidavit of business records contains a certificate of mailing that notifies the issuing attorney that the records have been sent to the clerk. In the clerks' experience, the sending of a written notice does not stop the phone calls, but adds one more step to their workload.

In addition, the House Committee inserted the language "intent to request" in the provision regarding the notice of the issuance of a subpoena.

The bill has no fiscal impact on the state.

1. *Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at http://www.ink.org/public/legislative/bill_search.html