§ 58.01 Production of Documents and Things and Entry Upon Land for Inspection and Other Purposes

58.01. 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 to:

(1) Produce and permit the party making the request, or someone acting on the requesting party's behalf, to inspect and copy any designated documents (including writings, drawings, graphs, charts, photographs, phonograph records, electronic records, and other data compilations from which information can be obtained, translated, if necessary, by the requesting party through detection devices into reasonably usable form) or to inspect and copy, test, or sample any tangible things that constitute or contain matters within the scope of Rule 56.01(b) and that are in the possession, custody or control of the party upon whom the request is served; or

(2) 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, and photographing, testing, or sampling the property or any designated object or operation thereon, within the scope of Rule 56.01(b).

This Rule 58.01 does not preclude an independent action against a person not a party for production of documents and things and permission to enter upon land.

(b) Issuance.

(1) Form. In consecutively numbered paragraphs the request shall set forth the items to be inspected, either by individual item or by category, and describe each item and category with reasonable particularity. The request shall specify a reasonable time, place and manner of making the inspection and performing the related acts. The title shall identify the party to whom the requests are directed and state the number of the set of requests directed to that party.

(2) When Requests May be Served. Without leave of court, requests may be served on:

(A) A plaintiff after commencement of the action, and

(B) Any other party with or after the party was served with process, entered an appearance, or filed a pleading.

(3) Service. Copies of the requests shall be served on all parties not in default. The party issuing the requests shall also provide each responding party an electronic copy in a commonly used medium, such as a diskette, CD-ROM or as an e-mail attachment, in a format that can be read by most commonly used word processing programs, such as Word for Windows or WordPerfect 5.x or higher. In addition to the information normally in a certificate of service, the certificate of service shall also state the:

(A) Name of each party who is to respond to the requests;

(B) Number of the set of requests,

At the time of service, a certificate of service, but not the requests, shall be filed with the court as provided in Rule 58.01(d).

(1) When Response is Due. Responses shall be served within 30 days after the service of the request. A defendant, however, shall not be required to respond to the request before the expiration of 45 days after the earlier of:

(A) The date the defendant enters an appearance, or

(B) The date the defendant is served with process.

The court may allow a shorter or longer time.

(2) Form. The title of the response shall identify the responding party and the number of the set of the requests. The response shall quote each request, including its original paragraph number, and immediately thereunder state that the requested items will be produced or the inspection and related activities will be permitted as requested, unless the request is objected t o, in which event each reason for objection shall be stated in detail.

(3) Objections and Privileges. If information is withheld because of an objection, then each reason for the objection shall be stated. If a privilege or the work product doctrine is asserted as a reason for the objection, then without revealing the protected information, the objecting party shall state information that will permit others to assess the applicability of the privilege or work product doctrine.

(4) Method of Production. 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.

(5) Signing. The response shall be signed by the attorney or by the party if the party is not represented by an attorney.

(6) Service. The party to whom the requests were directed shall serve a signed original of the response and objections, if any, on the party that issued the requests and a copy upon all parties not in default. The certificate of service shall state the name of the party who issued the requests and the number of the set of requests.

At the time of service, a certificate of service, but not the response, shall be filed with the court as provided in Rule 58.01(d).

(d) Filing. The request and responses thereto shall not be filed with the court except upon court order or contemporaneously with a motion placing the request in issue. However, both when the request and responses are served, the party serving them shall file with the court a certificate of service. The certificate shall show the caption of the case, the name of the party served, the date and manner of service, and the signature of the serving party or attorney. Each party filing a certificate shall maintain a copy of the document that is the subject of the certificate until the case is finally disposed.

(e) Enforcement. The party submitting the request may move for an order under Rule 61.01(b) with respect to any objection or other failure to respond to the request or any part thereof or any failure to permit inspection as requested.