§ 3234 Production of Documents and Things and Entry Upon Land for Inspection and Other Purposes
§ 3234. Production of Documents and Things and Entry Upon Land for Inspection and Other Purposes
A. SCOPE. Any party may serve on any other party a request:
1. To produce and permit the party making the request, or someone acting on the party's behalf, to inspect, copy, test and sample any designated documents or electronically stored information - including, but not limited to, writings, drawings, graphs, charts, photographs, motion picture films, phonograph records, tape and video recordings, records and other data compilations from which information can be obtained - translated, if necessary, by the respondent through detection devices into reasonably usable form, or to inspect and copy, test or sample any tangible things which constitute or contain matters within the scope of subsection B of Section 3226 of this title and which are in the possession, custody or control of the party upon whom the request is served; or
2. To permit entry upon designated land or other property in the possession or control of the party upon whom the request is served for the purpose of inspection and measuring, surveying, photographing, testing or sampling the property or any designated object or operation thereon, within the scope of subsection B of Section 3226 of this title.
B. PROCEDURE. 1. The request to produce or permit inspection or copying may, without leave of court, be served upon the plaintiff after commencement of the action and upon any other party with the summons and petition or after service of the summons and petition upon that party.
2. The number of requests to produce or permit inspection or copying shall not exceed thirty in number. If counsel for a party believes that more than thirty requests to produce or permit inspection or copying are necessary, he or she shall consult with opposing counsel promptly and attempt to reach a written stipulation as to a reasonable number of additional requests. Counsel are expected to comply with this requirement in good faith. In the event a written stipulation cannot be agreed upon, the party seeking to submit such additional requests for production or inspection shall file a motion with the court (1) showing that counsel have conferred in good faith but sincere attempts to resolve the issue have been unavailing, (2) showing reasons establishing good cause for their use, and (3) setting forth the proposed additional requests for production or inspection.
3. The request:
a. shall set forth and describe with reasonable particularity the items to be inspected either by individual item or by category,
b. shall specify a reasonable time, place and manner of making the inspection and performing the related acts, and
c. may specify the form or forms in which electronically stored information is to be produced.
4. a. The party, upon whom the request is served, shall serve a written response within thirty (30) days after the service of the request, except that a defendant may serve a response within forty-five (45) days after service of the summons and petition upon that defendant. The court may allow a shorter or longer time.
b. The response shall state, with respect to each item or category, that inspection and related activities shall be permitted as requested, unless the request is objected to, in which event the reasons for objection shall be stated. If objection is made to part of an item or category, the part shall be specified and inspection permitted of the remaining parts.
c. If objection is made to the requested form or forms for producing electronically stored information, or if no form was specified in the request, the responding party shall state the form or forms it intends to use.
d. The party submitting the request may move for an order under subsection A of Section 3237 of this title with respect to any objection to or other failure to respond to the request or any part thereof, or any failure to permit inspection as requested.
5. Unless the parties otherwise agree, or the court otherwise orders:
a. a party who produces documents for inspection shall produce them as they are kept in the usual course of business or shall organize and label them to correspond with the categories in the request,
b. if a request does not specify the form or forms for producing electronically stored information, a responding party shall produce the information in a form or forms in which it is ordinarily maintained or in a form or forms that are reasonably usable, and
c. a party is not required to produce the same electronically stored information in more than one form.
C. PERSONS NOT PARTIES. A person not a party to the action may be compelled to produce documents and things or to submit to an inspection as provided in Section 2004.1 of this title.