To subpoena phone records, you need an active court case, a subpoena duces tecum drafted with a specific phone number and date range, and service on the current carrier’s legal compliance department after you’ve given notice to every other party in the case. Knowing how to subpoena phone records correctly also means knowing what a subpoena can’t reach: federal law bars phone companies from handing over the content of texts, voicemails, or messages in response to a civil subpoena, so plan around metadata unless you’re a governmental entity with a warrant.
What a Subpoena Will and Won’t Reach
Phone records split into two categories, and the legal standard for each is completely different. Draft without understanding the split and the carrier’s legal department will reject the subpoena on sight.
Metadata, also called call detail records or CDRs, covers the phone numbers involved, dates and times, call duration, and similar non-content information about texts. A standard subpoena in a civil or criminal case can compel a carrier to produce this data. Courts treat metadata as less privacy-sensitive because it shows who contacted whom, not what was said.
Content is the actual words in a text, a saved voicemail recording, or the body of a multimedia message. The Stored Communications Act prohibits phone companies and internet-based communication providers from disclosing the contents of stored communications except through specific legal processes.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 2702 – Voluntary Disclosure of Customer Communications or Records Content stored 180 days or less can only be obtained with a warrant; content stored longer than 180 days may be disclosed under a court order or warrant, but only to a governmental entity with proper legal authority.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 2703 – Required Disclosure of Customer Communications or Records For private parties in civil cases, this is a hard ceiling. Carriers will refuse content requests and are legally required to. If you need the words of a text message in a civil dispute, subpoena the other party for the messages on their phone instead of going to the carrier.
Cell site location information, which maps a phone’s movements through the towers it connected to, faces the same barrier. The Supreme Court held in 2018 that the government generally needs a warrant supported by probable cause to obtain historical CSLI.3Supreme Court. Carpenter v. United States For civil litigants, CSLI is effectively unavailable through a subpoena alone.
Retention Clocks You’re Already Racing
Phone companies don’t keep records forever, and the timelines are shorter than most people assume. FCC regulations require carriers offering toll telephone service to retain call records for only 18 months.4eCFR. 47 CFR 42.6 – Retention of Telephone Toll Records Those records cover the caller’s name, address, and number, the number called, and the date, time, and length of the call. Many carriers hold metadata a bit longer, but 18 months is the guaranteed floor.
Text message data is far more fragile. No federal regulation requires carriers to retain the content of texts. Some major carriers have publicly stated they don’t store text content at all; others keep it only a few days. Metadata about texts tends to follow call-log timelines, but actual message content is often gone within a week. If the events in your case are more than a year old, some of what you want may already be deleted.
Send a Preservation Letter First
Because the subpoena process takes weeks, a preservation letter to the carrier is usually the first step. It asks the carrier to freeze specific records so they aren’t purged on the normal schedule.
There’s a legal wrinkle. Under federal law, carriers must preserve records when a governmental entity requests it, for 90 days with an option to renew for another 90.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 2703 – Required Disclosure of Customer Communications or Records Private civil parties don’t have that statutory right. Many carriers still honor a preservation request from a civil litigant as a practical matter, especially when the letter identifies pending litigation, the account, and a date range. Compliance isn’t guaranteed, but sending the letter creates a record that can support a spoliation argument later if data disappears.
Include the case name and number, the phone number, the date range, the record types you want preserved, and your contact information. Send it to the carrier’s legal compliance department by certified mail or overnight delivery. Do this the moment you know phone records will matter, before you start drafting.
Identify the Current Carrier
A subpoena served on the wrong company is a wasted month. Phone numbers are portable, so the carrier that originally issued a number may no longer service it. Confirm the current carrier before drafting anything.
Free online carrier lookup tools identify the current carrier for most U.S. numbers by querying the same porting databases the carriers use. Paid skip-tracing and investigative databases give attorneys more detail. Once you have the carrier, find its legal compliance address, not a retail store. Major carriers publish submission instructions in their law enforcement guidelines or on legal response websites, and the Secretary of State in the state of service can identify a registered agent for service of process.
Draft the Subpoena
What you need is a subpoena duces tecum, which commands the production of documents rather than testimony. Blank forms are available from the clerk of the court where your case is filed or on the court’s website. In federal court the form is titled “Subpoena to Produce Documents, Information, or Objects.”5Cornell Law School. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 45 – Subpoena
The subpoena needs to state:
- The exact name of the court where the case is filed.
- The case caption listing all parties (for example, “Jane Doe v. John Smith”).
- The docket number assigned by the court.
- The full phone number whose records you’re requesting.
- A specific start and end date for the records. “All records” invites an overbreadth objection.
- A precise description of the records, such as “call detail records including originating and terminating numbers, date, time, and duration” or “text message logs (metadata only, no content).”
- The compliance deadline.
Carrier legal departments process thousands of subpoenas and reject vague requests rather than guess. If you want inbound and outbound calls, say so. If you need records for multiple numbers, list each one.
Issue, Notify, and Serve
A completed form isn’t enforceable until it’s formally issued. If you’re representing yourself, take the filled-out form to the court clerk, who will sign it and stamp it with the court’s seal. In federal court, the clerk must issue a signed subpoena to any party who requests one.5Cornell Law School. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 45 – Subpoena An attorney admitted to the bar of the issuing court can issue it directly.
Before the subpoena goes to the carrier, you must serve a copy on every other party in the case. Federal Rule 45(a)(4) requires that notice and a copy of any subpoena commanding document production be served on each party before service on the person or company being subpoenaed.5Cornell Law School. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 45 – Subpoena This gives the opposing side a chance to object before the carrier produces anything. Skip this step and the subpoena can be quashed and the records excluded.
Service on the carrier follows court rules. Serve either the registered agent for service of process or the designated legal compliance department. A professional process server or local sheriff’s deputy usually handles this. Standard service fees run roughly $45 to $75 nationally; rush service costs more.
In federal court, you also tender the statutory witness fee at the time of service. The federal witness attendance fee is $40 per day plus a mileage allowance at the rate set by the General Services Administration for federal employee travel.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1821 – Per Diem and Mileage Generally For a records-only subpoena, some jurisdictions treat this as a formality, but omitting it gives the carrier grounds to challenge service. State courts set their own witness fees.
What Happens After Service
Once the subpoena is properly served, the carrier’s legal compliance team reviews it. Under federal rules, the carrier must respond or object by the compliance date, and any objection must be served before that date or within 14 days of service, whichever comes first.5Cornell Law School. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 45 – Subpoena In practice, most carriers take two to four weeks to compile and deliver records if there are no deficiencies.
Carriers are allowed to charge reasonable fees for searching and compiling records. Expect $50 to several hundred dollars depending on volume. Some carriers invoice and require payment before release, so factor that into your timeline. Multi-year requests and multiple numbers push costs higher.
The subscriber whose records are sought, or any party in the case, can file a motion to quash. Common grounds include:
- Irrelevance: the records have no bearing on any claim or defense.
- Overbreadth: the date range or scope goes far beyond what the case requires.
- Privilege: the records are protected by attorney-client or another recognized privilege.
- Undue burden: compliance would impose unreasonable cost or effort.
If a motion to quash is filed, the carrier holds off until the judge rules. The judge can enforce the subpoena as written, narrow its scope, or throw it out. A tightly drafted subpoena targeting a defined window and specific record types is much harder to quash than a broad one.
Practical Tips That Save Time and Money
First-time subpoenas fail in predictable ways. A few habits prevent the common ones.
Start with the preservation letter the moment phone records look relevant. Carriers delete data on rolling schedules, and the subpoena process takes weeks even when nothing goes wrong. Waiting for formal discovery can cost you the key dates.
Confirm the carrier before you draft. Serving AT&T on a number that ported to T-Mobile two years ago burns a month. A carrier lookup takes five minutes.
Request metadata first. It’s available through a standard subpoena in both civil and criminal cases, and call logs alone often prove enough. For actual message content in a civil case, subpoena the opposing party’s device rather than the carrier, because the Stored Communications Act blocks content requests to providers.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 2702 – Voluntary Disclosure of Customer Communications or Records
Keep date ranges tight. Eighteen months of call records for a car accident that happened on one afternoon reads as a fishing expedition to both the carrier and the judge. Request the window around the relevant events with a reasonable buffer. If you later need more, issue a second subpoena.