What constitutes lawful service of a witness subpoena?

There are both legal and practical aspects to this question. A statute requires that the subpoena be delivered directly to you, or left with a responsible person at your home. But the misdemeanor court rules permit "service" by first-class mail sent to the witness's last known address. CrRLJ 4.8(c). Most domestic violence cases are misdemeanors. In my experience, police officers swear they "served" a subpoena "by personal service" without complying with these requirements; and the prosecutors and courts rely on these "proofs of service." It is possible for a court to issue a warrant to arrest a material witness if the subpoena was served and the witness does not appear. It doesn't happen often, but it does happen. I don't know if you are a "material" witness. I don't know if anyone would consider you so important to the case to request a warrant. You have the option of retaining counsel to explore the case more thoroughly and advise on your legal and practical options.

In general, personal service has to be handed to you or someone who resides with you. [In accordance with the community guidelines of , this is not "legal advice", nor does it form an attorney-client relationship.]

To be enforceable, the State must show personal service of the subpoena. Otherwise, no one can say whether or not the person actually received the subpoena.