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Expenditures Related to Legal Proceedings
Witness Fees and Expenses

Witnesses in administrative hearings or proceedings

For administrative hearings or proceedings covered by the Administrative Procedure Act, a witness is entitled to receive from the agency:

  • 10 cents a mile if the place of the hearing or proceeding is more than 25 miles from the place of residence of the witness and the witness uses their personally owned or leased motor vehicle to attend the hearing or proceeding.
  • Reimbursement of the witness’s transportation expenses while going to and returning from the place of the hearing or proceeding, if the place is more than 25 miles from the witness’s place of residence and the witness does not use the witness’s personally owned or leased motor vehicle for the travel.
  • Reimbursement of the witness’s meal and lodging expenses while going to and returning from the place of the hearing or proceeding if the place is more than 25 miles from the witness’s place of residence.
  • A fee of $10 per day, or part of a day, the witness is necessarily present at the hearing or proceeding.

A state agency may increase the mileage rate and the fee rate if the agency adopts a formal rule to that effect. However, a state agency may not adopt a rule that specifies a mileage rate greater than the maximum rate allowed for state employees.

A state agency may directly pay a commercial transportation company or commercial lodging establishment for the transportation and lodging expenses of a witness. A state agency may not pay a company or reimburse a witness at a rate that exceeds the maximum rates allowable for state employees.

A state agency required to pay mileage or fees to a witness, or to reimburse a witness’s transportation, meal or lodging expenses, must submit a proper voucher to the Comptroller's office.

Definitions:

Commercial lodging establishment
A motel, hotel, inn, apartment or similar entity that offers lodging to the public in exchange for compensation. (Texas Government Code Section 2001.103(e)(1))
Commercial transportation company
An entity that offers transportation of people or goods to the public in exchange for compensation. (Texas Government Code Section 2001.103(e)(2))
State agency
A state officer, board, commission, or department with statewide jurisdiction that makes rules or determines contested cases. The term includes the State Office of Administrative Hearings for the purpose of determining contested cases. The term does not include:
  • A state agency wholly financed by federal money
  • The Legislature
  • The courts
  • The Texas Department of Insurance, as regards proceedings and activities under Title 5, Labor Code, of the department, the commissioner of insurance, or the commissioner of workers’ compensation
  • An institution of higher education
Witness
A person who is not a party and who is subpoenaed or otherwise compelled to attend a hearing or proceeding to give a deposition or to produce books, records, papers or other objects necessary and proper for a hearing or proceeding governed by the Administrative Procedure Act. The term does not include an expert witness.

Source [+]

Administrative Procedure Act, Texas Government Code Section 2001.103.

Documentation Requirements [+]

The following documentation requirements apply only to a purchase voucher submitted to pay the witness fees and expenses of a witness in an administrative hearing covered by the Administrative Procedure Act:

  1. A state agency must retain documentation in its files that explains the type of proceeding the witness attended.
  2. A state agency that has adopted a rule to increase the mileage or fee rate must retain a copy of the rule in its files.
  3. Comptroller object 7224 must be used for criminal proceedings.
  4. Comptroller object 7254 must be used for civil proceedings.

For administrative hearings or proceedings not covered by the Administrative Procedure Act, a witness can receive a fee or a reimbursement of a meal, lodging, incidental, mileage or other transportation expense only if the statute that covers the hearing or proceeding provides for the fee or reimbursement. Note: These requirements do not apply to an expert witness.

Documentation Requirements [+]

The following documentation requirements apply only to a purchase voucher submitted to pay the witness fees and expenses of a witness in an administrative hearing not covered by the Administrative Procedure Act:

  1. A state agency must retain documentation in its files explaining the type of proceeding the witness attended.
  2. Comptroller object 7254 must be used.

Witnesses in civil court proceedings

A witness summoned by a state agency in a civil court proceeding is entitled to receive:

  • One dollar for each day the witness attends court.
  • Mileage at the rate provided by law for state employees if the witness uses the witness’s personally owned or leased motor vehicle to attend court.
  • Reimbursement of the witness’s transportation expenses if the witness does not use the witness’s personally owned or leased motor vehicle to attend court.
  • Reimbursement of the witness’s meal and lodging expenses while attending court if the court is at least 25 miles from the witness’s place of residence.

A witness summoned by a state agency to give testimony outside of a courtroom in connection with a civil court proceeding is entitled to receive the same fees and expenses that would have been received if the witness had testified in a courtroom.

A state agency may directly pay a commercial transportation company or a commercial lodging establishment for the transportation and lodging expenses of a witness. A state agency may not pay a company or reimburse a witness at a rate that exceeds the maximum rates allowable for state employees.

A witness may claim fees and mileage only by filing an affidavit with the clerk of the court. The affidavit must state the number of days the witness attended court and the number of miles traveled while going to and returning from court.

Note: These requirements do not apply to an expert witness.

Definitions:

Commercial lodging establishment
A motel, hotel, inn, apartment or similar entity that offers lodging to the public in exchange for compensation. (Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 22.003(1))
Commercial transportation company
An entity that offers transportation of people or goods to the public in exchange for compensation. (Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 22.003(2))

Source [+]

Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 22.003; Opinion of the Texas Attorney General No. DM-342 (1995).

Documentation Requirements [+]

The following documentation requirements apply only to a purchase voucher submitted to pay the witness fees and expenses of a witness in a civil court proceeding:

  1. A state agency must retain documentation in its files explaining the type of proceeding that the witness attended.
  2. Comptroller object 7254 must be used.

Witnesses in criminal proceedings

The following requirements apply to witnesses in criminal proceedings who reside outside the county in which the proceeding occurs, including witnesses who reside outside the state of Texas.

Witnesses are entitled to be reimbursed by the state for the reasonable and necessary transportation, meal, and lodging expenses the witness incurs as a result of the witness’s attendance at a criminal proceeding.

The state may reimburse a witness for transportation expenses only if the transportation is provided by a commercial transportation company or by the witness’s personally owned or leased motor vehicle. The state may reimburse a witness for lodging expenses only if the lodging is provided by a commercial lodging establishment. A state agency may directly pay a commercial transportation company or a commercial lodging establishment for the transportation and lodging expenses of a witness.

A state agency may not pay a company or reimburse a witness at a rate that exceeds the maximum rates allowable for state employees.

In addition to the reimbursements above, the Comptroller's office is required to pay other expenses required by the laws of the state of Texas or the laws of the state where the witness resides, if those expenses are properly requested by the attorney for the state. The Comptroller's office may pay the transportation, meal and lodging expenses of a witness only upon receipt of the witness’s court-approved claim for the expenses.

A reimbursement may be paid to an assignee of a witness only if the assignment is made under oath and is acknowledged, certified and sealed by a person authorized to administer oaths. A county that has advanced funds to enable a witness to attend a criminal proceeding is entitled to be reimbursed as an assignee of the witness.

Definitions:

Commercial lodging establishment
A motel, hotel, inn, apartment or similar entity that offers lodging to the public in exchange for compensation. (Texas Criminal Procedure Code Article 35.27, Section 1(c))
Commercial transportation company
An entity that offers transportation of people or goods to the public in exchange for compensation. (Texas Criminal Procedure Code Article 35.27, Section 1(b))
Criminal proceeding
A proceeding in which confinement in jail is a permissible punishment. The term includes a juvenile proceeding in which a determinate sentence is possible.
Witness
An individual summoned to attend and testify in Texas at a criminal court or grand jury proceeding. The term does not include an expert witness.

Sources [+]

Texas Criminal Procedure Code Article 24.28, Section 4(b); Texas Criminal Procedure Code Article 35.27; Opinion of the Texas Attorney General Nos. H-107 (1973), C-579 (1966).

Documentation Requirements [+]

The following documentation requirements apply only to a purchase voucher submitted to pay the witness fees and expenses of a witness who resides outside the county in which the proceeding occurs, including a witness who resides outside the state of Texas:

  1. A state agency must retain documentation in its files that:
    1. Explains the type of proceeding the witness attended,
    2. Lists the county or state in which the witness resided at the time the witness attended the proceeding, and
    3. Lists the county in which the criminal proceeding occurred.
  2. Comptroller object 7224 must be used.

Expert witnesses

An expert witness in any proceeding may receive compensation and reimbursement of the witness’s expenses in compliance with the contract for services between the witness and the state agency that hired the witness.

Definitions:

Expert witness
A person with a specialized skill or knowledge who is called upon to provide as evidence an opinion on facts already proven. Expert witnesses often provide opinions on topics requiring specialized scientific or technical knowledge. Expert witnesses do not provide evidence of things done or seen that anyone who had done or seen them would be competent to prove.

Documentation Requirements [+]

The following documentation requirements apply only to a purchase voucher submitted to pay the compensation or expenses, or both, of an expert witness in any proceeding:

  1. A state agency must retain documentation in its files proving the witness was an expert witness.
  2. Comptroller object 7254 must be used.

Witness fees and expenses incurred in federal court

Federal law requires a person subpoenaed to testify in federal court be paid witness fees for one day’s attendance plus mileage when the subpoena is served. Either the attorney general or the state agency represented by the attorney general may pay those witness fees and the mileage.

A witness must be paid an attendance fee of $40 for each day’s attendance:

  • At any court of the United States.
  • Before a United States magistrate.
  • Before any person authorized to take the deposition of the witness pursuant to any rule or order of a court of the United States.

The witness must also be paid the $40 per day fee for time used in going to and returning from the place of attendance at the beginning and end of the attendance or at any time during the attendance.

A witness who travels by common carrier will be paid for the actual expenses of travel based on the most economical rate available. A receipt or other evidence of actual cost must be furnished.

A travel allowance equal to the mileage allowance for federal employees must be paid to a witness who travels by privately owned vehicle.

The following expenses must be paid in full to a witness incurring them:

  • Toll charges for toll roads, bridges, tunnels and ferries
  • Taxicab fares between places of lodging and carrier terminals
  • Parking fees (upon presentation of a valid parking receipt)

A subsistence allowance must be paid to a witness when an overnight stay is required due to distance prohibiting the witness to return to their residence each evening. The amount of the allowance may not exceed the maximum per diem for official travel by federal employees.

Sources [+]

Fed. R. Civ. P. 45(b)(1); 5 U.S.C.A. Sections 5704(a), 5707(b)(2) U.S.C.S. Sections 5704(a), 5707(b)(2) (Law. Co-op. LEXIS through Pub. L. No. 108-98, approved Dec. 19, 2003 (with a gap of Pub. L. No. 108-173)); 28 U.S.C.S. Section 1821(a)–(d) (Law. Co-op. LEXIS through Pub. L. No. 108–98, approved Dec. 19, 2003 (with a gap of Pub. L. No. 108–173)); Opinion of the Texas Attorney General No. C-786 (1966).

Documentation Requirements [+]

The following documentation requirements apply only to a purchase voucher submitted to pay the witness fees or expenses, or both, of a person subpoenaed to testify in federal court:

  1. A state agency must retain documentation in its files explaining the type of proceeding the person attended.
  2. Comptroller object 7224 must be used for criminal proceedings.
  3. Comptroller object 7254 must be used for civil proceedings.