The best option is to have your witness subpoenaed or summons to court. To do this, you must have the witnesses’ name and physical address. DO NOT USE A WITNESS’S POST OFFICE BOX. A subpoena or summons cannot be delivered to a P.O. Box!!

Once you have all of your witnesses’ names and addresses, you need to bring that information to the Clerk’s Office at the courthouse and have one of the clerks send out a subpoena for your case. You may also bring your list of witnesses to the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office to have witnesses subpoenaed.

DO NOT RELY ON THE WORD OF YOUR WITNESS ALONE that he or she will appear in court on your behalf. If you do, you risk not being able to use that witness at your trial. Without a subpoena, the court has no power over that person and cannot order that person to court to testify. With a subpoena, the court can postpone the case until that person does appear in court. Failure to have your witnesses subpoenaed to court is done at your own risk!