Title 21, Food and DrugsRelease 119-102

§969 Contempt Proceedings

Title 21 › CHAPTER 13 — DRUG ABUSE PREVENTION AND CONTROL › SUBCHAPTER II — IMPORT AND EXPORT › § 969

Last updated Aug 21, 2026|Official source

Summary

If someone refuses a Treasury subpoena, the Secretary of the Treasury can ask any U.S. court that covers the investigation or the person's home, business, or location to order the person to appear, produce records, or testify; the court may punish disobedience as contempt and accept service where the person is.

Full Legal Text

Title 21, §969

Food and Drugs, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

In case of contumacy by, or refusal to obey a subpena issued to, any person, the Secretary of the Treasury may invoke the aid of any court of the United States within the jurisdiction of which the investigation is carried on or of which the subpenaed person is an inhabitant, carries on business or may be found, to compel compliance with the subpena of the Secretary of the Treasury. The court may issue an order requiring the subpenaed person to appear before the Secretary of the Treasury there to produce records, if so ordered, or to give testimony touching the matter under investigation. Any failure to obey the order of the court may be punished by the court as a contempt thereof. All process in any such case may be served in the judicial district whereof the subpenaed person is an inhabitant or wherever he may be found.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification Section was not enacted as part of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970 which comprises this chapter. Section was formerly classified to section 1036 of Title 31 prior to the general revision and enactment of Title 31, Money and Finance, by Pub. L. 97–258, § 1, Sept. 13, 1982, 96 Stat. 877. Section was also formerly classified to section 198c of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

21 U.S.C. § 969

Title 21, Food and Drugs

Last Updated

Aug 21, 2026

Release point: 119-102