US Code

Public Law 119-84 (04/18/2026)

28 U.S.C. § 1821

Per diem and mileage generally; subsistence

(a)
(1)
Except as otherwise provided by law, a witness in attendance at any court of the United States, or before a United States Magistrate Judge, or before any person authorized to take his deposition pursuant to any rule or order of a court of the United States, shall be paid the fees and allowances provided by this section.
(2)
section 451 of this title As used in this section, the term “court of the United States” includes, in addition to the courts listed in , any court created by Act of Congress in a territory which is invested with any jurisdiction of a district court of the United States.
(b)
A witness shall be paid an attendance fee of $40 per day for each day’s attendance. A witness shall also be paid the attendance fee for the time necessarily occupied in going to and returning from the place of attendance at the beginning and end of such attendance or at any time during such attendance.
(c)
(1)
A witness who travels by common carrier shall be paid for the actual expenses of travel on the basis of the means of transportation reasonably utilized and the distance necessarily traveled to and from such witness’s residence by the shortest practical route in going to and returning from the place of attendance. Such a witness shall utilize a common carrier at the most economical rate reasonably available. A receipt or other evidence of actual cost shall be furnished.
(2)
section 5704 of title 5 A travel allowance equal to the mileage allowance which the Administrator of General Services has prescribed, pursuant to , for official travel of employees of the Federal Government shall be paid to each witness who travels by privately owned vehicle. Computation of mileage under this paragraph shall be made on the basis of a uniformed table of distances adopted by the Administrator of General Services.
(3)
Toll charges for toll roads, bridges, tunnels, and ferries, taxicab fares between places of lodging and carrier terminals, and parking fees (upon presentation of a valid parking receipt), shall be paid in full to a witness incurring such expenses.
(4)
section 1920 of this title All normal travel expenses within and outside the judicial district shall be taxable as costs pursuant to .
(d)
(1)
A subsistence allowance shall be paid to a witness when an overnight stay is required at the place of attendance because such place is so far removed from the residence of such witness as to prohibit return thereto from day to day.
(2)
section 5702(a) of title 5 A subsistence allowance for a witness shall be paid in an amount not to exceed the maximum per diem allowance prescribed by the Administrator of General Services, pursuant to , for official travel in the area of attendance by employees of the Federal Government.
(3)
1
1 See References in Text note below.
A subsistence allowance for a witness attending in an area designated by the Administrator of General Services as a high-cost area shall be paid in an amount not to exceed the maximum actual subsistence allowance prescribed by the Administrator, pursuant to section 5702(c)(B)  of title 5, for official travel in such area by employees of the Federal Government.
(4)
section 3144 of title 18 When a witness is detained pursuant to for want of security for his appearance, he shall be entitled for each day of detention when not in attendance at court, in addition to his subsistence, to the daily attendance fee provided by subsection (b) of this section.
(e)
8 U.S.C. 1182(d)(5)8 U.S.C. 1252(b)1 An alien who has been paroled into the United States for prosecution, pursuant to section 212(d)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (), or an alien who either has admitted belonging to a class of aliens who are deportable or has been determined pursuant to section 240 of such Act ()  to be deportable, shall be ineligible to receive the fees or allowances provided by this section.
(f)
section 3144 of title 18 Any witness who is incarcerated at the time that his or her testimony is given (except for a witness to whom the provisions of apply) may not receive fees or allowances under this section, regardless of whether such a witness is incarcerated at the time he or she makes a claim for fees or allowances under this section.

June 25, 1948, ch. 646 62 Stat. 950 May 10, 1949, ch. 96 63 Stat. 65 May 24, 1949, ch. 139, § 94 63 Stat. 103 Oct. 31, 1951, ch. 655, § 51(a) 65 Stat. 727 Sept. 3, 1954, ch. 1263, § 45 68 Stat. 1242 Aug. 1, 1956, ch. 826 70 Stat. 798 Pub. L. 90–274, § 102(b)82 Stat. 62 Pub. L. 95–535, § 192 Stat. 2033 Pub. L. 101–650, title III104 Stat. 5115 Pub. L. 102–417, § 2(a)106 Stat. 2138 Pub. L. 104–208, div. C, title III, § 308(g)(5)(E)110 Stat. 3009–623 (, ; , ; , ; , ; , ; , ; , , ; , , ; , §§ 314(a), 321, , , 5117; –(c), , ; , , .)

Historical and Revision Notes

Act1948

section 1115(a) of title 26Apr. 26, 1926, ch. 183, § 3 44 Stat. 324 May 17, 1932, ch. 190 47 Stat. 158 June 25, 1936, ch. 804 49 Stat. 1921 Feb. 10, 1939, ch. 2, § 1115(a) 53 Stat. 160 Dec. 24, 1942, ch. 825, § 1 56 Stat. 1088 Based on title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., § 600c, , U.S.C., 1940, Internal Revenue Code, and section 11–1514 of the D.C. Code, 1940 ed. (R.S. §§ 823, 848; , ; , ; , ; , ; , .

section 600c of title 28section 1115(a) of title 26Section consolidates part of , U.S.C., 1940 ed., with , U.S.C., 1940 ed., and section 11–1514 of the D.C. Code, 1940 ed.

Words “or person taking his deposition pursuant to any order of a court of the United States” were added to cover that circumstance.

section 600c of title 28Reference in , U.S.C., 1940 ed., and section 11–1514 of the D.C. Code, 1940 ed., to the district courts of Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, were omitted as covered by the words “any court of the United States”.

section 600c of title 28section 1825 of this titleProvision of , U.S.C., 1940 ed., for payment of witnesses is incorporated in .

Changes were made in phraseology.

Senate Revision Amendment

section 1115(a) of Title 26By Senate amendments, all provisions relating to the Tax Court were eliminated. Therefore, as finally enacted, , U.S.C., Internal Revenue Code, was not one of the sources of this section. However, no change in the text of this section was necessary. See 80th Congress Senate Report No. 1559.

Act1949

This section restores certain provisions of the original statute, R.S. § 848, which were inadvertently omitted from revised title 28, U.S.C., § 1821.

Editorial Notes

References in Text

section 5702 of title 5section 5702 of title 5Pub. L. 99–234, title I, § 10299 Stat. 1756 Subsection (c) of , referred to in subsec. (d)(3), which related to conditions under which an employee could be reimbursed for actual and necessary expenses of official travel when the maximum per diem allowance was less than these expenses, was repealed, and subsec. (e) of , was redesignated as subsec. (c), by , , .

section 1229a of Title 8Section 240 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, referred to in subsec. (e), is classified to , Aliens and Nationality.

Amendments

Pub. L. 104–2081996—Subsec. (e). substituted “section 240” for “section 242(b)”.

Pub. L. 102–417, § 2(b)1992—Subsec. (d)(1). , struck out “(other than a witness who is incarcerated)” after “paid to a witness”.

Pub. L. 102–417, § 2(c)Subsec. (d)(4). , substituted “3144” for “3149”.

Pub. L. 102–417, § 2(a)Subsec. (f). , added subsec. (f).

Pub. L. 101–6501990—Subsec. (b). substituted “$40” for “$30”.

Pub. L. 95–535section 5704 of Title 51978— increased the daily witness attendance fee from $20 to $30, substituted provisions relating to compensation for the actual expenses of travel based on the form of transportation used, to a travel allowance equal to the mileage allowance under for a witness travelling by privately owned vehicle, and to tolls, taxi fares, and parking fees for provisions that a witness would receive 10 cents per mile and that mileage computation would be based on a uniform table of distances regardless of the mode of travel employed, provisions relating to a subsistence allowance in amounts not to exceed those which Government employees receive for official travel for provisions that such subsistence allowance would be $16 per day, provisions relating to a witness detained for want of security for his appearance being entitled to the daily attendance fee in addition to subsistence for provisions that such a witness would be entitled to $1 per day in addition to his subsistence, and inserted provisions defining “court of the United States” and relating to travel expenses being taxable as costs and to certain aliens being ineligible to receive fees and allowances.

Pub. L. 90–2741968— increased the per diem allowance from $4 to $20, increased the mileage allowance from 8 cents per mile to 10 cents per mile, increased the daily subsistence allowance from $8 to $16, and directed that witnesses in the district courts for the districts of the Canal Zone, Guam, and the Virgin Islands receive the same fees and allowances provided in this section for witnesses in other district courts of the United States.

1956—Act , substituted “, or before any person authorized to take his deposition pursuant to any rule or order” for “or person taking his disposition pursuant to any order”, increased the payments for mileage from 7 to 8 cents per mile and subsistence allowance from $5 to $8 per day, and authorized the computation of mileage on the basis of a uniform table of distances adopted by the Attorney General.

1954—Act , struck out language which had restricted section’s applicability to those depositions taken pursuant to order of the court.

1951—Act , substituted “residences” for “residence” in that part of second sentence which precedes first proviso.

1949—Act , inserted last par.

Act , increased witnesses’ fees from $2 to $4 per day, mileage allowance from 5 cents to 7 cents a mile, subsistence allowance from $3 to $5 per day, and inserted provisos.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Change of Name

section 321 of Pub. L. 101–650section 631 of this title“United States Magistrate Judge” substituted for “United States Magistrate” in subsec. (a)(1) pursuant to , set out as a note under .

Effective Date of 1996 Amendment

Pub. L. 104–208section 309 of Pub. L. 104–208section 1101 of Title 8Amendment by effective, with certain transitional provisions, on the first day of the first month beginning more than 180 days after , see , set out as a note under , Aliens and Nationality.

Effective Date of 1992 Amendment

Pub. L. 102–417, § 2(d)106 Stat. 2138

section 1821 of title 28“The amendments made by this section [amending this section] shall be effective on and after the date of the enactment of this act [] and shall apply to any witness who testified before such date and has not received any fee or allowance under , United States Code, relating to such testi­mony.”
, , , provided that:

Effective Date of 1978 Amendment

Pub. L. 95–535, § 292 Stat. 2034

“The amendments made by this Act [amending this section] shall take effect on , or on the date of enactment [], whichever occurs later.”
, , , provided that:

Effective Date of 1968 Amendment

Pub. L. 90–274section 104 of Pub. L. 90–274section 1861 of this titleAmendment by effective 270 days after , except as to cases in which an indictment has been returned or a petit jury empaneled prior to such effective date, see , set out as a note under .

Payment of Fact Witness Fee to Incarcerated Person Prohibited

Pub. L. 102–395, title I, § 108106 Stat. 1841 , , , provided that notwithstanding this section, no funds appropriated to the Department of Justice in fiscal year 1993 or any prior fiscal year would be obligated or expended to pay a fact witness fee to an incarcerated person in a court of the United States.

Similar provisions were contained in the following prior appropriation acts:

Pub. L. 102–140, title I, § 110105 Stat. 795 , , .

Pub. L. 102–27, title II, § 102105 Stat. 136 , , .